Department for Transport

Public Transport: Voucher Schemes

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has had discussions with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on establishing a public transport voucher scheme to allow vouchers to be taken from wages pre-taxation to encourage people to use public transport and lower carbon emissions in cities.

Andrew Jones: There have been no discussions between the Secretary of State for Transport and the Chancellor of the Exchequer on that particular subject. Many employers already offer loans for season tickets or salary sacrifice schemes, and the Department has recently published revised guidance on cycle to work schemes and other ways in which employers can encourage people to cycle to work. The Government has also ensured that regulated rail fares can rise by no more than inflation since 2014.

Electric Vehicles: Charging Points

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many people in each region of the UK have received electric vehicle plug-in grants in each year since 2011.

Michael Ellis: The attached table shows where new plug-in grant eligible vehicles were registered by region of the UK from 2011 to 2018. In October 2018 plug-in hybrids became ineligible for the plug-in car grant. Those registered after this date are not accounted for in the table.  



Plug-in grant eligible vehicles
(Excel SpreadSheet, 18.59 KB)

Electric Vehicles

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment his Department has made of which models of electric vehicle are most popular with consumers by region; and for which of those models are plug-in grants available.

Michael Ellis: The attached tables show the top six most popular ultra low emission vehicle models with consumers by region between April 2018 and March 2019. Those vehicles eligible for plug-in grants are marked with a star. A number of different models are popular with consumers across the country. The number of models of ultra low emission vehicles available in the UK continues to increase. Nearly all major automakers have made significant commitments to start selling ULEVs.  



Tables of ULEV models by region
(Excel SpreadSheet, 18.58 KB)

Railways: WiFi

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 8 July 2019 to Question 271562, if he will publish the value for money assessment for his Department’s on-train wi-fi policy for the Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern, South Eastern, Chiltern and Wales and Border rail franchises.

Andrew Jones: The Department does not normally publish detailed economic assessments that inform rail policy decisions. In developing the business case different policy options would have been considered and appraised as per the guidelines in the Green Book. The economic assessment to evaluate the value for money would have utilised the Department’s modelling and appraisal guidance (WebTAG). The latest information on this can be found at:https://www.gov.uk/guidance/transport-analysis-guidance-webtag

Railways: WiFi

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 8 July 2019 to Question 271564 on Railways: Telecommunications, what estimate he has made of the timescale of the delivery of improvements to rail passenger wi-fi connectivity; and what assessment he has made of the effect on that estimated timescale of (a) delays to live rail franchise competitions, (b) the suspension of the Cross Country rail franchise and (c) the change to the timeframe of the rail franchising programme as a result of the Williams Rail Review.

Andrew Jones: The latest figures published by Transport Focus in the Spring 2019 National Rail Passenger Survey show that customer satisfaction for the reliability of internet connectivity on trains has improved by 7% from the Spring 2018 survey. We also expect to see improvements to rail passenger wi-fi connectivity as franchises are renewed. A timescale for further improvements will be established once the Government has published its White Paper setting out how we will implement the Williams Rail Review recommendations in the autumn.

Aviation: Noise

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to reduce aviation noise in the South East.

Michael Ellis: The Government recognises that aviation noise is a key concern for communities that aircraft fly over, including the South East. As part of its forthcoming Aviation Strategy, the Government has put forward a number of proposals designed to incentivise the aviation industry to successfully modernise airspace. Airspace modernisation should allow aircraft to climb more quickly than they can at present, and descend continuously, both of which will have a noticeable noise reduction benefit. Through the Aviation Strategy, we have also considered how sustainable growth should be defined in terms of noise. Proposals brought forward in the green paper include developing a new national indicator to track the long-term performance of the sector in reducing noise, routinely setting noise caps as part of planning approvals, and requiring all major airports to set out a plan which commits to future noise reduction, and to review this periodically. The Government has also taken forward proposals for additional methods of representing communities’ exposure to noise and requirements for options analysis and consultation that will ensure communities are more engaged in future decisions around airspace that affect them.

Railways: Freight

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to increase rail freight capacity.

Andrew Jones: In Control Period 5 (2014-2019), Government made available £235m through the Strategic Freight Network fund, investing in projects to support rail freight growth. This includes a £60m contribution to a project to increase the number of trains able to serve the Port of Felixstowe, the largest container port in the UK. There is funding available in Control Period 6 (2019-2024) for continued improvements to the rail network. Government is working with Network Rail and the freight industry to develop options for investment over the next five years.

High Speed Two: Freedom of Information

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what percentage of freedom of information requests received by HS2 Limited were fulfilled within the 20-day deadline in (a) 2015, (b) 2016, (c) 2017, (d) 2018 and (e) the first quarter of 2019.

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many freedom of information requests were received by HS2 Limited in (a) 2015, (b) 2016, (c) 2017, (d) 2018 and (e) the first quarter of 2019.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: From 2015 up to the end of first quarter of 2019, HS2 Ltd responded to 79 per cent of the Freedom of Information (FOI) and Environmental Information Regulations (EIR) requests it received within the 20 working day deadline. YearNumber of requests% of FOI received fulfilled within the 20-day deadline201522677%201621995%201728492%201835477%In the first quarter of 2019 HS2 Ltd has received 141 FOI request with 40% fulfilled within the 20-day deadline. This is an increase of 83 per cent in the number of requests received, coupled with an increase in complexity, this has led to a number of requests taking longer to process. HS2 Ltd recognises that its performance needs to improve. It is implementing a number of measures, including increasing resources, to alleviate the issue.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Business: Finance

Paul Farrelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the report entitled, The state of the nation: The UK Family Business Sector 2018-19 by Oxford Economics, published in July 2019, what steps his Department is taking to make it easier for family businesses to access external finance.

Kelly Tolhurst: As the report notes, the family business sector is vital to the UK economy, employing over 13 million people and generating more than a quarter of the nation’s GDP. In May this year, I attended the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Family Business and discussed a range of issues including access to external finance. The authors of the Report, The Institute for Family Business, are also a member of the BEIS SME Advisory Board, who last met on 24 June.As part of the modern Industrial Strategy, this Department’s aim is to improve access to finance for all UK businesses, including family-owned businesses. The Government-backed British Business Bank supports more than £6.4bn of finance to over 85,000 SMEs. The Bank’s online Finance Hub also helps small business owners identify potential sources of finance via the finance finder web tool.The Business Bank has also established a UK Network, with team members based within each of the English regions and the three Devolved Nations. The UK Network works with small business finance intermediaries to enhance business finance ecosystems across the UK, so smaller businesses, wherever they are, can grow and prosper.In addition, Government has actively supported and invested in the creation of 38 Growth Hubs (one in each Local Enterprise Partnership area), providing businesses across England support and advice via a free and impartial, local single point of contact. At the end of FY18/19, Government had invested £56.4 million in Growth Hubs.The Government provides support and advice to all types of businesses through our core services including GOV.UK, the Business Support Helpline and Growth Hubs operating in England.

Energy

Stephen Kerr: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to develop local energy distribution networks to respond to a potential increase in domestic electricity consumption.

Chris Skidmore: Electricity distribution networks are regulated by the independent energy regulator, Ofgem, and, by law, network regulation must be carried out independently of Government. Under the existing regulatory framework, distribution network operators are allowed to increase capacity on their networks to accommodate expected growth in demand from domestic electricity consumption. Energy networks require significant investment in order to ensure that Great Britain has a secure, dynamic energy system that is fit for the challenges of the future. BEIS estimates that between 2010 and 2017 £35bn has been invested to upgrade, reinforce and extend the electricity networks (both transmission and distribution) and a further £14bn may need to be invested between by 2020. Ofgem's RIIO 2 price control will set out the pathway for investment in our energy networks through the mid-2020s. Government expects network companies and regulators to act in the best interests of consumers including in relation to more active system management as per the Government and Ofgem’s Smart Systems and Flexibility Plan. We are already seeing distribution network operators manage their systems more actively, and make more innovative use of data and smart technologies. For example, all six DNOs in Great Britain have now committed to open all significant network reinforcement to competition with flexibility services.

Energy

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether decisions on the next Revenue = Incentives + Innovation + Outputs price control period will include the requirement for energy networks to deliver the Government's policies set out in the (a) Industrial Strategy and (b) Clean Growth Strategy.

Chris Skidmore: Network regulation, including gas and electricity network price controls, is a matter for Ofgem as the independent energy regulator and, by law, must be set independently of Government. Government expects network companies and regulators to act in the best interests of consumers including in relation to Government’s net zero and clean growth ambitions, and taking into account the industrial strategy. As an independent arm’s length body, whose objectives are set out in statute, Ofgem is directly accountable to Parliament.

Energy

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment the Government has made of the effect of Ofgem’s Sector Specific Methodology on the ability of energy networks to deliver (a) net zero emissions and (b) the Government's policies set out in the (i) Industrial Strategy and (ii) Clean Growth Strategy.

Chris Skidmore: Network regulation, including the sector specific methodology for gas and electricity network price controls, is a matter for Ofgem as the independent energy regulator and, by law, must be set independently of Government. Government expects network companies and regulators to act in the best interests of consumers including in relation to Government’s net zero and clean growth ambitions, and taking into account the industrial strategy. As an independent arm’s length body, whose objectives are set out in statute, Ofgem is directly accountable to Parliament.

Energy

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans he has to ensure that Ofgem’s Sector Specific Methodology enables energy networks to deliver (a) net zero emissions and (b) the Government policies set out in the (i) Industrial Strategy and (ii) Clean Growth Strategy.

Chris Skidmore: Network regulation, including the sector specific methodology for gas and electricity network price controls, is a matter for Ofgem as the independent energy regulator and, by law, must be set independently of Government. Government expects network companies and regulators to act in the best interests of consumers including in relation to Government’s net zero and clean growth ambitions, and taking into account the industrial strategy. As an independent arm’s length body, whose objectives are set out in statute, Ofgem is directly accountable to Parliament.

Climate Change: International Cooperation

Ian Lavery: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he has taken to preserve international co-operation on climate change when the UK leaves the EU.

Chris Skidmore: Leaving the EU does not change the UK's commitment to domestic and international action to tackle climate change. On 27 June, the UK became the first major economy in the world to set a legally binding target to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions from across the UK economy by 2050. We will continue to work closely with our European and other international partners to secure ambitious climate objectives. We will do this through continued cooperation in multilateral groups - including the UNFCCC, G7, G20, the Commonwealth and the International Energy Agency – as well as continued strong bilateral relationships on climate with countries around the world. Our recent bid to host COP26 in 2020, under a UK Presidency in partnership with Italy, demonstrates our continued commitment to play a global leadership role in galvanising action on climate change.

Small Businesses: Yorkshire and the Humber

Mr David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent steps he has taken to support small businesses in (a) Yorkshire and the Humber and (b) Haltemprice and Howden constituency.

Kelly Tolhurst: The Government is committed to supporting all entrepreneurs to start and grow a business. Through our ambitious Industrial Strategy, we want to make the UK the best place to start and grow a business, to create jobs and spread prosperity.In addition to accessing national support available such as the Business Support Helpline (0300 456 3565) and advice given on www.gov.uk, small and medium sized enterprises in Yorkshire and the Humber can access business advice through their local Growth Hubs. Led and governed by Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs), Growth Hubs provide a free, impartial, ‘single point of contact’ to help businesses in the area identify and access the right support for them at the right time no matter their size or sector. The LEPs which cover Yorkshire and the Humber have self-reported that in FY2017-2018 their Growth Hubs supported over 12,000 businesses and helped over 900 individuals start a business.The Humber LEP area is being supported with up to £83.4m of investment through the Regional Growth Fund, which includes £30m awarded to the Humber LEP for a business support programme. The Growing Places Fund is supporting business growth investment across the Humber with funding worth £8.8m. The Humber LEP’s ‘Growing the Humber’ business investment programme has supported the creation of over 2,800 jobs to date.The Government-backed British Business Bank’s Start-Up Loans programme provides loans to entrepreneurs seeking to start and grow their own businesses. Since 2012, 5,482 loans have been issued in the Yorkshire and the Humber region, totalling over £45m, and with an average loan amount of £8,249. In the Haltemprice and Howden constituency, 103 loans have been issued, totalling £926,277 (as at end-June 2019).

Post Office: Herbert Smith Freehills

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 8 July 2019 to Question 272157, in what capacity the law firm Herbert Smith Freehills is acting on behalf of Post Office Limited; and for what reason that firm was not listed in the six law firms framework agreement, as outlined in Question 272157.

Kelly Tolhurst: Holding answer received on 15 July 2019



A reference to Herbert Smith Freehills was omitted from my answer to Question 272157 inadvertently. I can confirm that the six law firms previously listed provide legal support to Post Office Limited and are permitted to subcontract to others within the terms of their contract with the Post Office. In addition, Post Office Limited has instructed Herbert Smith Freehills in respect of the Group Litigation. The selection of law firms to provide legal services to Post Office Limited is an operational matter for the company in which Government plays no role.

Ofgem: Environment Protection

Dr Alan Whitehead: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to his Answer of 19 June 2019 to Question 264294, if he could clarify where in Part 1 of the Electricity Act 1989 (Exemptions from Prohibition) provision is set out for Ofgem to have consideration of decarbonisation.

Dr Alan Whitehead: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to his Answer of 19 June 2019 to Question 264294, if he could clarify where in the Gas Act 1986 (Prohibition of Unlicensed Activities), provision is set out for Ofgem to have consideration of decarbonisation.

Dr Alan Whitehead: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has of made of the legal enforceability of the guidance on environmental and social policies he is empowered to issue under Part 1 Section 4AB of the Gas Act 1986 and Part 1 Section 3B of the Electricity Act 1989.

Chris Skidmore: Ofgem has a statutory duty to have regard to guidance on social and environmental matters issued by the Secretary of State when carrying out its functions, as set out in Part 1 Section 4AB of the Gas Act 1986 (GA86) and Part 1 Section 3B of the Electricity Act 1989 (EA89). The Parliamentary procedure for this guidance is also set out in Section 3B EA89 and Section 4AB GA86.Under subsection 1A of section 3 of the EA89 and subsection 1A of section 4AA of the GA86 respectively, Ofgem’s principal objective is to protect the interests of existing and future consumers, including their interests in the reduction of emissions of targeted greenhouse gases.To clarify the response of 19 June, it is not section 5 but subsection 5 of Part 1, section 3A and 4AA of the EA89 and GA86 respectively that sets out Ofgem’s statutory duty to have regard to the effect on the environment of the generation, transmission, distribution or supply of electricity and gas.

Employment: Arbitration

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the (a) trends in the number and (b) effectiveness of the use of protected conversations since their introduction.

Kelly Tolhurst: The introduction of ‘pre-termination negotiations’ or ‘protected conversations’ in July 2013, provided greater flexibility to the existing arrangements, for employers to have conversations with employees, with a view to ending their employment (even where no employment dispute exists), that can be treated as confidential. By their very nature, these conversations are not recorded and may only be disclosed in an employment tribunal to prove improper behaviour.

Climate Change

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of climate mitigation and natural disaster recovery throughout the regions of the country in the last ten years; and what funding he plans to allocate to those matters in the next ten years.

Chris Skidmore: Climate change mitigation and natural disaster recovery are priorities for this government. Investment in reducing the UK’s contribution to climate change and managing its impacts can deliver benefits across the UK. This is why we have placed clean growth at the heart of our modern Industrial Strategy. Future funding decisions are a matter for the Spending Review.

Business: Public Holidays

Sir Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether the Government has plans to compensate printers and other businesses for costs incurred by the date change for May Bank Holiday in 2020; and if he will make a statement.

Kelly Tolhurst: The early May bank holiday will move from 4 to 8 May 2020 to commemorate the 75th Anniversary of VE Day. This is to ensure as many people as possible have the opportunity to honour our heroes of the Second World War. The Government acknowledges that the decision will bring economic benefits to some sectors and businesses and some disruption to others. The Government has corresponded directly with representatives from the calendar printing industry and has no plans for compensation.

NP11

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the terms of reference are for the NP11.

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what funding has been allocated from the public purse to the NP11.

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what selection (a) process and (b) criteria were used for the appointment of the (i) Chair and (ii) Vice Chair to the NP11.

Jake Berry: The NP11 has been provided with £850,0000. The Government and NP11 have agreed a Memorandum of Understanding and headline business plan for 2019/20. It sets out how the NP11 will work with Government to unlock the north’s economic potential. This includes collaboration across the Local Enterprise Partnerships, key business and civic leaders, and other strategic partners across the North. The NP11 is an independent body, and so appoint their own Chair and Vice Chair.

Energy Performance Certificates

Dr Alan Whitehead: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to his Department's consultation, Energy performance certificate in buildings: call for evidence, published in October 2018, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of off-grid properties switching from lower carbon to higher carbon forms of heating in order to obtain a higher energy performance certificate rating.

Chris Skidmore: The replacement of a heating system must always be carried out in accordance with Building Regulations. Replacing an existing appliance with a less carbon efficient one is not compliant with Building Regulations and any suspected breaches of this should be reported to Building Control in the appropriate Local Authority. Replacing a heating system with a higher carbon option will not be given as a recommended measure to improve the building’s rating on an EPC as this would be contrary to Building Regulations. The Domestic Buildings Services Compliance Guide (2013) provides further information on this: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/697525/DBSCG_secure.pdf. We are considering the responses to our call for evidence on EPCs and will respond in due course.

Electric Vehicles

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he plans to take to improve the infrastructure for electric vehicles.

Andrew Stephenson: The Government’s vision is to have one of the best electric vehicle infrastructure networks in the world, growing a network for current and prospective electric vehicle drivers that is affordable, reliable, accessible and secure. The Road to Zero strategy published last year includes new commitments to expand significantly electric and low emission vehicle infrastructure across the country. Government funding and leadership, alongside private sector investment has supported the installation of more than 20,000 public chargepoints. This includes over 2,000 rapid chargepoints - one of the largest networks in Europe. Our grant schemes and our £400m public-private Charging Infrastructure Investment Fund will see thousands more electric vehicle chargepoints installed across the UK. Highways England has committed £15m to ensure there are chargepoints (rapid where possible) every 20 miles on 95% of the Strategic Road Network by 2020. The Prime Minister has asked the Office for Low Emission Vehicles to work with industry to set out a vision by Autumn 2019, for a core infrastructure network of rapid and high powered chargepoints along England’s key road network.

Electric Vehicles

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what financial incentives the Government is offering to increase the uptake of electric vehicles.

Andrew Stephenson: We are investing nearly £1.5bn‎ between April 2015 and March 2021 to support the market for Ultra Low Emission cars, vans, HGVs, taxis and motorcycles, and schemes to support charge point infrastructure at homes and workplaces, and on residential streets. This funding also includes grants for research to support the development and deployment of ultra low emission technologies. Government grants for plug-in vehicles will be available until at least 2020, reducing the upfront purchase price of electric vehicles We stated in our Road to Zero strategy that consumer incentives in some form will continue to play a role beyond 2020.Purchasers of ultra-low emission vehicles also receive other benefits, including: lower tax rates, and grants towards the installation of chargepoints. HMT recently announced plans to accelerate the shift to zero emission cars by removing company car tax in 2020-21, 1% in 2021-22 before returning to the planned 2% rate in 2022-23 – a significant tax saving for employees and employers. A number of local authorities also provide additional incentives such as free parking or exemption from the congestion charge. We have also supported the uptake of ultra low emission buses through the Ultra Low Emission Bus Scheme.

Climate Change

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to page 11 of the report entitled, Net Zero, published by the Committee on Climate Change in May 2019 on setting a target of net zero emissions by 2050 and if he will make it his policy to set an earlier target date for reaching net zero.

Chris Skidmore: The Committee on Climate Change make clear in their report that they do not currently consider it credible for the UK to aim to reach net-zero emissions earlier than 2050.We have considered their advice and legislated in line with it. The UK is the first major economy in the world to set a legally binding target to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. This world-leading target will bring to an end our contribution to climate change.Having set this target, we are calling on other countries to similarly increase their ambition.

Boilers

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy,  how many new models of boilers introduced since October 2017 have been tested and submitted to the BRE to comply with the new Boiler Plus regulations.

Chris Skidmore: The testing and registration of new models of boiler by the Buildings Research Establishment (BRE) is not part of compliance with the Boiler Plus regulations.In order to comply with the Boiler Plus regulations, the boiler unit must meet Energy-related Products (ErP) standards with a minimum ErP efficiency of 92%. Compliance is carried out by Notified Bodies, as defined by EU Directive 92/42/EEC: Hot Water Boilers. A list of Notified Bodies can be found at the following URL: http://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/nando/index.cfm?fuseaction=directive.print&refe_cd=92%2F42%2FEECThe BRE maintains the Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP) for the energy performance of homes. For the purposes of SAP, boiler efficiency values are derived using a calculation known as Seasonal Efficiency of Domestic Boilers in the UK (SEDBUK). This is the value that is recorded by BRE in the Product Characteristics Database.

Whirlpool Corporation: Tumble Dryers

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what progress has been made on ensuring that (a) people who purchased a defective Whirlpool tumble driers are compensated and (b) those dryers are made safe.

Kelly Tolhurst: Under the agreed terms of the recall that Whirlpool is carrying out, consumers with an unmodified affected tumble dryer are entitled to a new replacement machine. This will be delivered and installed, with the old one removed, all at no cost. Alternatively, consumers can choose to upgrade to a different model for a reduced fee. A refund based on product age or a modification will be available to those consumers who do not want to take up the offer of a free replacement dryer from Whirlpool.

Vegetable Oils

Paul Farrelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to support businesses to develop new and more sustainable vegetation oils as a replacement for palm oil.

Chris Skidmore: The Government is committed to working with business and others to create a UK market for sustainably sourced palm oil for households and reduce the environmental impact of palm oil production overseas. In 2012, the Government convened an industry-led UK Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil. This brought together trade associations for palm oil-using sectors to improve reporting, traceability and understanding of supply chains to increase the use of certified palm oil. As a result the market share of sustainable palm oil in the UK has increased from 16% in 2010 to 75% in 2017. Internationally, as a member of the Amsterdam Declarations Partnership, the UK is driving 100% sustainable palm oil supply chains in Europe. The UK also supports the Tropical Forest Alliance (TFA) which recently secured the Marrakesh Declaration on palm oil. The Declaration has seen seven African palm oil producing countries and major companies agree principles for responsible palm oil. This builds on earlier Government efforts to tackle non-household use of vegetable oils such as palm oil in sectors such as biofuels, by promoting waste-derived biofuels. Two thirds of biofuels in 2017-2018 were from such wastes. We recognise that more remains to be done and will continue to explore opportunities to improve the sustainability of palm oil production.

Companies House: Staff

Peter Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many people are employed at Companies House.

Kelly Tolhurst: The number of people employed at Companies House is 981. This figure includes both full time and part-time employees.

Renewable Energy

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the contribution that (a) rooftop solar, (b) solar farms and (c) onshore wind can make to delivering the 2050 net-zero emissions target; and if he will make a statement.

Chris Skidmore: Solar PV is a UK success story. Over 99% of the UK’s solar PV capacity has been deployed since May 2010, and now provides 13.5GW of renewable electricity. 13.8GW of onshore wind capacity has now also been installed in the UK, enough to power over 7.6 million UK homes. Renewable technologies have an essential part to play in meeting the 2050 net zero emissions commitment as part of a diverse energy system.

Renewable Energy

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what was the capacity of (a) onshore wind and (b) solar PV installed in the UK in (i) 2015, (ii) 2016, (iii) 2017, (iv) 2018, and (v) 2019 to 11 July 2019.

Chris Skidmore: This information is publicly available at:https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/811884/ET_6.1.xls.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Freedom of Information

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, for what reasons 31.2 per cent of freedom of information requests received by his Department were not fulfilled within the 20-day deadline in 2018.

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, for what reason only 55.4 per cent of FOI requests received by his Department in the first quarter of 2019 were met within the 20-day deadline.

Andrew Stephenson: In accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act) the 20 working day deadline for response to requests for information may be extended in order to consider the balance of public interest regarding disclosure of held information.In 2018, 82% of requests received by the Department were answered within the statutory 20-day deadline or with a permitted extension. In the first quarter of 2019, 68% of requests were answered within the 20-day deadline or with a permitted extension.The complexity and diverse nature of the Department means that individual requests may require the involvement of more than one area of the Department and/or consultation with key stakeholders. Regrettably this can sometimes lead to delays in the Department’s ability to providing a timely response.The Department remains committed to improving the number of requests answered within the statutory deadline and is working closely with officials across the Department.

Postal Services

Marion Fellows: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of (a) the Post Office Ltd and (b) sub-Postmasters for collecting parcels in each of the last three years.

Kelly Tolhurst: The Government recognises the critical role that post offices play in communities and for small businesses across the UK. This is why the Government committed to safeguard the post office network and protect existing rural services. The overall number of post offices across the UK remains at its most stable in decades with over 11,500 branches thanks to significant Government investment of over £2 billion since 2010. While the Government sets the strategic direction for the Post Office, it allows the company the commercial freedom to deliver this strategy as an independent business. The Post Office provides parcel services on behalf of Royal Mail and the costs of those services are a commercial matter between the two businesses.

Postal Services

Marion Fellows: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the effect of Royal Mail's parcel postbox expansion on the income of (a) the Post Office Ltd and (b) sub-Postmasters.

Kelly Tolhurst: The Government recognises the critical role that post offices play in communities and for small businesses across the UK. This is why the Government committed to safeguard the post office network and protect existing rural services. The overall number of post offices across the UK remains at its most stable in decades with over 11,500 branches thanks to significant Government investment of over £2 billion since 2010. While the Government sets the strategic direction for the Post Office, it allows the company the commercial freedom to deliver this strategy as an independent business. The Post Office operates in a range of competitive markets, including mails, and Government is not involved in the commercial activities in those markets.

Postal Services

Marion Fellows: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the effect of Royal Mail's parcel postbox expansion on the sustainability of Post Office branches.

Kelly Tolhurst: The Government recognises the critical role that post offices play in communities and for small businesses across the UK. This is why the Government committed to safeguard the post office network and protect existing rural services. The overall number of post offices across the UK remains at its most stable in decades with over 11,500 branches thanks to significant Government investment of over £2 billion since 2010. While the Government sets the strategic direction for the Post Office, it allows the company the commercial freedom to deliver this strategy as an independent business. The Post Office operates in a range of competitive markets, including mails, and Government is not involved in the commercial activities in those markets.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Saudi Arabia: Military Aid

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to the article published in The Guardian on 18 June 2019 entitled The Saudis couldn't do it without us: the UK's true role in Yemen's deadly war and the article published in The Observer on 23 June 2019 entitled British target training of Saudi air force did not stop Yemen atrocities, if he will make an assessment of the effect on the UK’s international reputation of its role in training the Royal Saudi Air Force.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The UK and Saudi Arabia have a longstanding bilateral relationship based on a number of pillars including defence, security, trade and investment, shared concerns about regional issues and energy security. The UK supports Saudi Arabia’s efforts to protect its national security against critical threats, such as the ballistic missiles and drones fired by the Houthis into civilian areas in Saudi Arabia.The UK works with Saudi Arabia to ensure targeting procedures are compliant with International Humanitarian Law (IHL), and we regularly raise the importance of IHL compliance with Saudi Arabia, including at senior levels. The UK is not a member of the Saudi-led Coalition and the UK’s role is limited to providing advice, information and assistance to help Saudi Arabia respond to airborne threats launched by the Houthis. The UK has no role in setting Coalition policy.

Saudi Arabia: Armed Forces

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to The Guardian article published on 18 June entitled Pompeo blocks inclusion of Saudi Arabia on US child soldiers list, if he will make an assessment of the effectiveness of international conventions preventing the exploitation of children as soldiers.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The UK is committed to ending the use of child soldiers. We remain deeply concerned by the use of children in conflict in Yemen. We raise allegations of human rights abuses, including the use of child soldiers, with all parties to the conflict in Yemen. We have been clear that all parties must comply with International Humanitarian Law.The UK firmly believes in the importance of international conventions to prevent the exploitation of children as soldiers. The UK has called for all states to sign up to the key international commitments pertaining to ending the recruitment and use of children in conflict including the Paris Principles and Commitments, the Vancouver Principles and the Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict. We firmly believe this framework of standards and commitments provides vital safeguards for the rights of children in armed conflict. For example, 91 countries have endorsed the Safe Schools Declaration. The Declaration has led to conflict-affected countries committing to the re-opening and protection of schools.

Sudan: Politics and Government

Andrea Jenkyns: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the political situation in Sudan.

Harriett Baldwin: The agreement in principle between the Transitional Military Council and the Forces of Freedom and Change, which sets out the plan for the transition to civilian led government in Sudan, is a historic opportunity for the people of Sudan to secure freedom from repression, instability and economic hardship. The UK commends the role of the African Union (AU) and Ethiopia in their efforts to support the mediation that has helped to deliver this agreement. We look forward to it being formally signed. On 5 July the Foreign Secretary welcomed the agreement. This was reiterated by the UK at the UN Human Rights Council on 9 July.There is a challenging path ahead. Sudan has faced decades of autocratic rule and peaceful protesters have been killed whilst demonstrating for change. Sudan needs to see swift implementation of the agreement, broad-based reform and economic adjustment, and will require sustained international support.

Zimbabwe: Politics and Government

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of the political situation in Zimbabwe.

Harriett Baldwin: We welcome recent political reform efforts by the Government of Zimbabwe, including commitment to repeal the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act and the Public Order and Security Act in line with Zimbabwe's constitution.However, Zimbabwe remains one of the UK's 30 Human Rights Priority Countries globally. We continue to call for the Government of Zimbabwe to uphold the rule of law and human rights and promote free and fair elections, under the protection of the 2013 Constitution and international human rights law. We also call on all political parties to enter into a genuine national dialogue.

Sudan: Politics and Government

Liz McInnes: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the effect of the power-sharing agreement between military leaders and the opposition alliance in Sudan on the long-term stability of that country.

Harriett Baldwin: The agreement in principle between the Transitional Military Council and the Forces of Freedom and Change, which sets out the plan for the transition to civilian led government in Sudan, is a historic opportunity for the people of Sudan to secure freedom from repression, instability and economic hardship. The UK commends the role of the African Union (AU) and Ethiopia in their efforts to support the mediation that has helped to deliver this agreement. We look forward to it being formally signed. On 5 July the Foreign Secretary welcomed the agreement. This was reiterated by the UK at the UN Human Rights Council on 9 July.There is a challenging path ahead. Sudan has faced decades of autocratic rule and peaceful protesters have been killed whilst demonstrating for change. Sudan needs to see swift implementation of the agreement, broad-based reform and economic adjustment, and will require sustained international support.

Somalia: Guinea

Liz McInnes: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of (a) diplomatic relations between Somalia and Guinea, and (b) the effect of those relations are having on Somaliland.

Harriett Baldwin: ​The UK is aware of the reported tensions between Somalia and Guinea. The two countries are responsible for their bilateral relationship. We are not aware of those relations having an effect on Somaliland. UK policy remains that it is for Somaliland and the Federal Government of Somalia to decide on a sustainable solution regarding their future. We continue to support and encourage plans for a peaceful dialogue between the two.

Oman: Detainees

Karen Lee: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of imposing sanctions under Section 1(2)(f) of the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018 on officials from Oman involved in human rights abuses against the Shuhuh 6.

Sir Alan Duncan: My Rt Hon Friend The Minister of State for the Middle East has raised these cases with the Omani authorities, as has our Ambassador in Muscat. They have given us the strongest assurances that the individuals concerned were given full legal assistance and treated in accordance with Oman’s constitution and international laws and conventions. There is no evidence of any discrimination against the Shihuh more generally, many of whom occupy senior positions in the Omani state and wider society. Our current assessment of the situation means that we see no merit in considering any action.With regard to the use of the powers under Section 1(2)(f) of the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act, the government is actively considering establishing a human rights sanctions regime to support the UK’s work in promoting and defending human rights around the world. Any potential listings would need to be consistent with the purposes of the regime and thresholds for evidence. As the sanctions regime is not yet established we are not able to provide any comment on possible designations.

Romania: Deportation

Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, what steps he is taking to protect UK residents subject to deportation from Romania.

Sir Alan Duncan: Deportations from Romania is a matter for the Romanian immigration authorities. We provide country specific advice for British nationals overseas on gov.uk in our 'living in guides', including Romania, which are regularly updated.

Ghana: Diplomatic Relations

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent steps he has taken to improve diplomatic relations with Ghana.

Harriett Baldwin: ​The UK has a strong relationship with Ghana that is built on our Commonwealth ties, shared values, our people-to-people links and a common interest in promoting stability, democracy and prosperity in West Africa. The Foreign Secretary visited Ghana on 30 April – 1 May where he was accompanied by a British business delegation. During the visit he held talks with the Vice President of Ghana and several Cabinet Ministers to further bilateral and trade priorities, including securing new commercial deals with British companies. The Foreign Secretary and the Ghanaian Foreign Minister enhanced the UK-Ghana relationship through the signing of a Joint Declaration, which is set to strengthen existing ties, focus action on agreed priorities and open up new areas for mutual co-operation.In the last year, I have co-chaired, with Ghana's Vice President, two meetings of the UK-Ghana Business Council, a high-level bilateral forum to promote cooperation on economic development, job creation, trade and investment. The last meeting was held in London in February where, as well as the Vice President, I was delighted to welcome the Minister for Trade, the Minister for Planning, and Deputy Ministers of Finance and Foreign Affairs. During his visit, the Vice President also met with the Foreign Secretary and the Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Somalia: Weapons

Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what support the Government is providing to the Somali Government to counter the proliferation of weapons within Somalia and prevent access to weapons by terrorists.

Harriett Baldwin: The UK plays a leading role in upholding and strengthening the UN Somalia sanctions regime in our capacity as drafters for all UN Security Council Resolutions on Somalia. The sanctions regime is central to international efforts to promote peace and security in Somalia, including through addressing the threat of Al-Shabaab. The regime includes an arms embargo with certain exemptions for humanitarian protection, the African Union Mission in Somalia, and the development of the Somali security forces. Within these exemptions, safeguards are in place to manage proliferation of arms. Our Embassy in Mogadishu regularly engages with the Somali authorities on the importance of compliance with the regime and to support the development of effective weapons and ammunition management. More broadly, the UK has an extensive programme of support to security sector reform in Somalia, helping Somalia take responsibility for its own national security and reduce conflict and terrorism.

Iraq: Internally Displaced People

Paul Farrelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to support the Iraqi Government to strengthen security in that country so that internally displaced Christian and Yazidi minorities are able to return to their home towns.

Dr Andrew Murrison: We support the safe, voluntary return of displaced members of Iraq's Christian and Yazidi minority communities and continue to engage with the Government of Iraq and the Kurdistan Regional Government on this issue. Both the Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary held productive meetings with the President of Iraq during his recent visit to the UK on 25-28 June. A range of issues were discussed, including how best to protect and support minority communities including Yazidis and Christians.We have contributed £14.45 million to the UN's Funding Facility for Stabilisation to help the Government of Iraq rebuild communities in liberated areas where many minorities are resident. We regularly meet with leaders and members of Iraq's ethnic and religious minorities to discuss their needs and priorities.

Diego Garcia: Roads

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, to which nation the road named national highway on Diego Garcia in the British Indian Ocean Territory refers.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The main road on Diego Garcia that links different areas of the island is officially named Britannia Way. It is more commonly known as DG1 or National Highway.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Ministers

Jo Platt: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, who currently fulfils the responsibilities of the position of Minister for Asia and the Pacific.

Sir Alan Duncan: The Rt Hon. Dr Andrew Murrison is temporarily covering the Asia & Pacific Ministerial portfolio.

USA: Diplomatic Service

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, when he plans to announce the new ambassador to the United States.

Sir Alan Duncan: The Government will announce the new Ambassador to the United States in due course and they will be appointed in the normal way. Ambassadors to the United States are appointed by the Prime Minister, on the Foreign Secretary's recommendation, with the approval of Her Majesty The Queen.

Members: Correspondence

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, when he plans to respond to the letter of 18 June 2019 from the hon. Member for Bishop Auckland requesting a meeting with the Minister of State for the Commonwealth.

Sir Alan Duncan: A response from Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon was sent to the hon. Member for Bishop Aukland on 15 July 2019.

Cabinet Office

Absent Voting: Fraud

Andrew Percy: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps the Government is taking to tackle postal vote fraud.

Kevin Foster: Electoral fraud is unacceptable on any level. There are already measures in place designed to enhance the security of postal voting.In response to (the then) Sir Eric Pickles report on electoral fraud, the Government accepted recommendations to strengthen the postal vote system and, in line with our manifesto commitment, we are working to reform postal voting to ensure our elections are secure.The Government will look for opportunities to introduce measures that will restrict the handling of postal votes by people who may seek to abuse or subvert them. We will also look to introduce controls on the return of postal votes via polling stations, which has been a cause for concern in past elections.

Elections: Corruption

Andrew Percy: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps the Government is taking to tackle bribery during elections.

Kevin Foster: Under section 113 of the Representation of the People Act (RPA) 1983 it is an offence for a person to give money or a gift to any other person in order to induce them to vote or to refrain from voting at an election. There is a similar offence at section 114 of the RPA 1983 in relation to the treating of voters.Furthermore, the Bribery Act 2010 (the Act) replaced an old and outmoded mix of common and statutory law and was designed to provide the courts, prosecutors and investigators the tools they needed to tackle bribery in the UK and overseas in the 21st century. The Act reflects the UK's continued commitment to combat bribery and provides a modern, comprehensive scheme of bribery offences.If anyone has evidence of abuse of the electoral system, this should be reported to the Returning Officer or the Police who have powers to investigate.We will continue to keep electoral law under review to ensure the electoral system is safe and secure.

Civil Servants: Pay

Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many civil servants working for central Government departments in each pay band were based in each (a) nation and (b) region of the UK in each of the last three years.

Oliver Dowden: This information has been placed in the Library.

Huawei: 5G

Jo Platt: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 8 July 2019 to Question 272302 on Huawei: 5G, whether he has met with the operators that are known not to follow Huawei Cyber Security Evaluation Centre advice and guidance.

Mr David Lidington: Regular meetings take place between telecommunications operators and HM Government officials from the National Cyber Security Centre, Cabinet Office and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.The National Cyber Security Centre engage with every operator who uses the Huawei Cyber Security Evaluation Centre to manage cyber security risks within their networks. Other operators may use the guidance that is publicly available on the NCSC website, which we cannot track, or advice from other relevant bodies such as Ofcom, the regulator.

GovTech Fund

Jo Platt: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 11 July 2019 to Question 274634, what cost/benefit analyses have been conducted for each of the catalyst challenges; and if he will publish those analyses.

Oliver Dowden: I refer the Honourable Member to my answer given to Question 271623 on 2 July 2019.

Department of Health and Social Care

Clinical Priorities Advisory Group

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 2 April 2019 to Question 236381 on Clinical Priorities Advisory Group, what steps NHS England has taken to ensure that treatments awaiting review by the Clinical Priorities Advisory Group are not delayed by the closure of the Commissioning Support Programme.

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the potential effect on treatments in NHS England’s Clinical Commissioning Policy programme of the closure of the Commissioning Support Programme; and if he will make a statement.

Seema Kennedy: Following agreement with the Department and industry as part of the 2019 Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing and Access (voluntary scheme), the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is now expected to undertake appropriate appraisal for all new active substances in their first indication, and extensions to their Marketing Authorisation to add a significant new therapeutic indication, except where there is a clear rationale not to do so. NICE expects to implement this expansion from April 2020. They will be in a position to start progressing topics through the NICE topic selection process from the summer of 2019.The topics that would have been referred to the Commissioning Support Programme will now be routed to the appropriate appraisal programme instead.Furthermore, NHS England advises that all policy propositions that were previously being developed by the Commissioning Support Programme have been handed over to the relevant committee, to bring them in line with the usual development process. This process is set out in ‘Methods: National Clinical Policies’ at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/methods-national-clinical-policies/

Doctors: Qualifications

Andrea Jenkyns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to prevent doctors with fake qualifications working in the NHS.

Stephen Hammond: It is for local National Health Service employers and the General Medical Council (GMC), as the independent regulator of doctors in the United Kingdom, to verify a doctor’s professional qualifications.All doctors must register with the GMC to be able to practise in the UK. The GMC’s registration process includes checks of professional qualifications.NHS Employers advises employing organisations to undertake professional registration and qualifications verification checks.

NHS: Staff

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the timeframe is for the publication of the final NHS People Plan.

Stephen Hammond: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Scunthorpe (Nic Dakin MP) on 5 July 2019 to Question 269718.

Cancer: Health Services

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the upcoming NHS People Plan will include a fully costed plan for growing the cancer workforce.

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that the upcoming full NHS People Plan sets out specific recommendations on cancer.

Seema Kennedy: The interim NHS People Plan, published on 3 June 2019, puts the workforce at the heart of the National Health Service and will ensure we have the staff needed to deliver high quality care. A final People Plan will be published soon after the conclusion of the 2019 Spending Review. The Cancer Workforce Plan for England, published in December 2017 by Health Education England (HEE), set out plans to expand capacity and skills in the cancer workforce, including targeting additional training support for seven priority professions such as clinical radiology, histopathology, oncology and diagnostic and therapeutic radiography. HEE will now work with NHS England and NHS Improvement to understand the longer-term workforce implications of further development of cancer services. This work will inform the final People Plan.

NHS: Staff

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the effect of ending freedom of movement of people on the NHS workforce.

Stephen Hammond: The Government recognises the need for the National Health Service to be able to continue to recruit effectively from abroad when freedom of movement ends. The Immigration White Paper, ‘The UK’s future skills-based immigration system’, published in December 2018, sets out the foundation for a single immigration system, where it is workers’ skills that matter, not where they come from. This system will remove the cap on skilled migrants, abolish the requirement to undertake a Resident Labour Market Test and significantly improve the timeliness of being able to apply for a visa.Additionally, legislation introduced on the 7 March 2019 means health and care professionals with professional qualifications from European Union and Swiss institutions who are currently registered can continue to practise in the United Kingdom as they do now, guaranteeing their ability to work in the NHS.

Health Services: Suffolk

Dr Dan Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the level of healthcare funding was per patient in Suffolk in (a) 2009-10 and (b) 2018-19.

Dr Dan Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the level of healthcare funding was per head of population in Suffolk in (a) 2009-10 and (b) 2018-19.

Stephen Hammond: The healthcare funding per registered head of population in Suffolk in 2009-10 and 2018-19 is set out in the following table. 2009-102018-19Healthcare funding per registered head of population in Suffolk (£)1,3271,580 The figures are not directly comparable as the balance of funding in primary care trust allocations (2009-10) and clinical commissioning group allocations (2018-19) differs due to how specialised activity is commissioned.It is not possible to determine the healthcare funding per patient as this information is not collected.

Cancer: Radiotherapy

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has in place to ensure that every cancer patient who would benefit from radiotherapy is able to access that treatment.

Seema Kennedy: The NHS Long Term Plan reaffirmed the commitment to modernise radiotherapy, as well as making specific commitments to commission the National Health Service new state-of-the-art Proton Beam facilities in London and Manchester. The plan also committed to reforming the specialised commissioning payments for radiotherapy hypofractionation to support further equipment upgrades.The Long Term Plan also set out NHS England’s commitment to review the National Tariff, in particular to ensure that appropriate incentives are in place to encourage providers to deliver modern techniques, including hypofractionation, and to upgrade and replace equipment.Over the last two years, £130 million has been invested in modernising radiotherapy equipment, with over 80 machines funded for replacement or upgrade across the country since October 2016.

NHS: Sign Language

Ian Lavery: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the procurement processes operated by NHS trusts for the purpose of hiring British Sign Language translators.

Stephen Hammond: Many National Health Service trusts use framework agreements for the procurement of translation services which are put in place either by Crown Commercial Service or their local procurement hub. These central purchasing bodies undertake assessments of companies to ensure that they meet the minimum standards and are able to track performance across a number of NHS trusts.The Department does not review NHS procurement practices on a trust by trust basis.

Insomnia: Circadin

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for what reasons Circadin is available in Scotland for the treatment of insomnia caused as a result of dementia but not in England.

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to make Circadin available in England to people suffering from insomnia caused by dementia.

Seema Kennedy: The availability of treatments in Scotland is a matter for the devolved administration.In England, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent body that develops authoritative, evidence-based guidance on best practice in health and social care. NICE’s guideline on the assessment, management and support for people living with dementia and their carers, published in 2018, recommends that Circadin (melatonin) should not be offered to manage insomnia in people living with Alzheimer's disease, and that a personalised multicomponent sleep management approach that includes sleep hygiene education, exposure to daylight, exercise and personalised activities should be considered for people living with dementia who have sleep problems.Further information about the evidence underpinning NICE’s guideline is available at the following link:https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng97/evidence/full-guideline-pdf-4852695709NICE does not make recommendations on the use of melatonin in the treatment of patients living with other types of dementia who have sleep problems.

HIV Infection: Drugs

Ian Lavery: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for what reason the Morpeth Clinic, Northumberland Sexual Health Services to not provide services to Gay and Bisexual men on the PrEP impact trial.

Ian Lavery: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that Gay and Bisexual men accessing the Morpeth Clinic, Northumberland Sexual Health Services have access to PrEP.

Seema Kennedy: Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is not currently a routinely commissioned service, but is provided by the National Health Service through the three year PrEP Impact Trial. Participation in the trial is on a voluntary basis and it is for clinics and local authorities to decide whether they wish to take part.

Endoscopy and Radiography: Recruitment

Mr Edward Vaizey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to his oral statement of 1 July 2019, Official Report, columns 929-930, what recent assessment he has made of whether recruitment of (a) 400 clinical endoscopists and (b) 300 reporting radiographers is sufficient deliver on the ambitions of the NHS Long-Term Plan.

Mr Edward Vaizey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, further to his oral statement of 1 July 2019 on the Implementation of the NHS Long-Term Plan, how the training and recruitment of (a) 400 more clinical endoscopists and (b) 300 more reporting radiographers will be funded.

Seema Kennedy: No overall assessment has been made.Health Education England’s (HEE) statutory responsibility is to ensure that an effective education and training system is in place for the National Health Service, which includes funding the training of pre and post registered professions based on current and future needs of patients. Funding for training and recruitment of endoscopists and radiographers will come out of the HEE yearly core funding.

Stargardt's Disease

Mr Charles Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the (a) prevalence and (b) adequacy of treatment options for the retinal degenerative disease Stargardt's.

Seema Kennedy: The Department does not hold prevalence figures of retinal degenerative disease Stargardt's in England at present. The Government is working with Public Health England‘s National Congenital Anomaly and Rare Disease Registration Service (NCARDRS) which collects information about people with congenital abnormalities and rare diseases and covers the whole of England. NCARDRS is working to expand its data collection and work with interested parties to advance data collection including Stargardt's retinal degenerative disease.Services for patients with retinal degenerative disease Stargardt's are provided by local clinical commissioning groups. There is currently no curative treatment available for patients. Patients are advised to reduce the speed of degeneration by avoiding exposure to bright light and wearing sunglasses.

Doctors: Private Sector

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 1 July 2019 to Question 271509, what his Department's definition is of serious or persistent failure in relation to doctors failing to follow guidance on disclosing their interests in organisations to which they refer patients; and how many incidents of that serious or persistent failure there have been in the last five years.

Stephen Hammond: The Department does not define ‘serious or persistent failure’ in relation to doctors failing to follow guidance on disclosing their interests in organisations to which they refer patients. The Department also does not hold information on the number of incidents relating to failure to follow guidance on disclosing interests.The General Medical Council (GMC) is the independent regulator of doctors in the United Kingdom. All UK registered doctors are expected to meet the professional standards set out in the GMC's guidance ‘Good Medical Practice’. Serious or persistent failure to follow this guidance will put their registration at risk.

Paramedical Staff: Crimes of Violence

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of work days lost by ambulance staff as from sick leave as a result of an assault while on duty in each of the last three years.

Stephen Hammond: The data is not available at the level of detail requested.NHS Digital publishes sickness absence rates, including those of ambulance staff, but that data does not include the number of work days lost or the reason for the absence.

Mental Health Services: Children and Young People

Ruth George: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether postgraduate training level seven will be fully funded and mandatory for people working therapeutically with children and young people on mental health issues.

Ruth George: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether training programmes designed to equip people working therapeutically with children and young people on mental health will have a set of learning objectives derived from practice-based evidence.

Jackie Doyle-Price: Health Education England (HEE) is responsible for commissioning of training for the National Health Service workforce and refer to their plan ‘Stepping Forward to 2020/21: Mental Health Workforce Plan for England’.All Level 7 postgraduate training for people working therapeutically with children and young people commissioned by HEE is fully funded.HEE cannot mandate training as it is the responsibility of the professional regulators and employers. HEE can define the curriculum for the training but cannot control the practice.All training commissioned by HEE for people working therapeutically with children and young people has a set of learning objectives that are underpinned by both evidence based practice and practice based evidence as it is overseen and delivered by senior members of professions pertinent to the practice of psychological therapy.

Weather: Health Education

Chris Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the funding allocated to the NHS Help us help you to stay well this winter campaign in the (a) last and (b) next 12 months.

Stephen Hammond: As for all NHS England campaigns, the adequacy of the funding for the ‘NHS Help Us Help You Winter Pressures’ campaign is measured by the effectiveness of the campaign in achieving it objectives, which are set.The independent evaluation research showed that the 2018/19 ‘NHS Help Us Help You Winter Pressures’ campaign successfully achieved 15 of the 18 objectives set before the activity started. The ‘NHS Help Us Help You Winter Pressures’ campaign budget for 2019/20 has been reduced by 7.5% when compared to the budget for 2018/19. However, NHS England expects to deliver similar levels of effectiveness.

Carers

Barbara Keeley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the NHS Long Term Plan implementation framework, how many people have carer passports; and what targets have been set to increase the adoption of those passports.

Caroline Dinenage: Section 2.33 of NHS England’s Long Term Plan states:“We will continue to identify and support carers, particularly those from vulnerable communities. Carers are twice as likely to suffer from poor health compared to the general population, primarily due to a lack of information and support, finance concerns, stress and social isolation. Quality marks for carer-friendly GP practices, developed with the Care Quality Commission (CQC), will help carers identify GP services that can accommodate their needs. We will encourage the national adoption of carer's passports, which identify someone as a carer and enable staff to involve them in a patient’s care, and set out guidelines for their use based on trials in Manchester and Bristol. These will be complemented by developments to electronic health records that allow people to share their caring status with healthcare professionals wherever they present.” There is currently no data on the number of Carer Passports nationally and the use of theses passports is variable across the country and across different health, care and community settings. Work commissioned by the Department and carried out by Carers UK and Carers Trust, led to the development of a carer passport resource. The Carer Passport resource is available at the following link:https://carerspassports.uk/This provides information on existing passport frameworks and support for the development of carer passports across a range of settings. As part of NHS England’s commitments, we will be supporting the use of these passports and promoting this through the implementation of our Quality Markers in Primary Care (launched in June), ongoing development work with sustainability and transformation partnership and integrated care system localities and as an extension of work already in progress following the response to John’s Campaign within secondary care settings. More information about John’s Campaign is available at the following link:https://johnscampaign.org.uk/#/

NHS: Training

Barbara Keeley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the NHS Long Term Plan implementation framework system support offer, how many of the 75,000 staff to be trained on personalised care approaches will work in (a) autism and learning disability and (b) mental health services.

Barbara Keeley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the NHS Long Term Plan implementation framework system support offer, how his Department will monitor growth in the independent and voluntary sector care and support market for autistic people and people with learning disabilities with more complex needs.

Caroline Dinenage: Professionals working in autism, learning disability and mental health will have access to training on personalised care approaches. The exact number to be trained will be determined locally based on staffing levels and local needs.The Care Act 2014 places responsibilities on local authorities in England to promote their local care markets. They are required to promote a diverse, sustainable, high quality market of care and support providers for people in their local area.Local authorities are expected to understand and articulate likely future demand for services in their area; engage with care providers to understand the likely supply of services; provide signals to the market of their intent; and as needed, intervene in the market to stimulate change and innovation in providers to better meet the needs of people and communities.

Social Services: Staff

Barbara Keeley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the NHS Long Term Plan implementation framework system support offer, whether the Institute for Personalised Care will deliver support to staff working in social care.

Caroline Dinenage: The Institute for Personalised Care will be in place in early September and their role is to develop products to support the quality assurance of training for clinical staff in personalised care. The products they will be responsible for include developing preferred provider frameworks and accreditation for health coaching and other elements of personalised care which is included in the current specification.The Institute will not be delivering support to staff working in social care, but is able to provide support to staff working in integrated services.

Social Services

Barbara Keeley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the NHS Long Term Plan implementation framework system support offer, what criteria will be used to determine which areas receive transformation funding to develop, test and deliver new approaches to care.

Jackie Doyle-Price: It is for NHS England and NHS Improvement national and regional teams to determine jointly the allocation approach, criteria and process for the distribution of transformation funding to develop their five-year strategic plans.

Diets: Children

Gill Furniss: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effect of the availability of diet apps on the mental health of school-aged girls; and if he will make a statement.

Jackie Doyle-Price: No such assessment has been made.

Dementia

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of trends in the level of dementia diagnosis in each year of the last five years.

Caroline Dinenage: No formal assessment of the trends in levels of dementia diagnosis in each year of the last five years has been made. The Prime Minister's Challenge on Dementia 2020 (started in 2015) sets out the ambition for two thirds of people with dementia to receive a formal diagnosis. We collect data for an indicator: Estimated Dementia Diagnosis Rate 65+. This indicator compares the number of people thought to have dementia with the number of people diagnosed with dementia, aged 65 and over. The result is presented as a rate, in the form of a percentage and published regularly. The published diagnosis rate is consistently above the target. The annual ‘Recorded Dementia Diagnoses 2018-19’ publication is scheduled for release on 25 July 2019 and this will cover trends in national and regional diagnosis rates for April 2018 - March 2019.

Dementia

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of avoidable hospital admissions of people with dementia in each of the last five years.

Caroline Dinenage: This data is not held centrally. Within Hospital Episode Statistics data, it is not possible to determine if an admission is 'avoidable' or not. The concept of an avoidable admission is broad and not defined within this data set.

Home Care Services: Bankruptcy

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of care companies operating in the UK that have collapsed in each of the last five years.

Caroline Dinenage: Data is not held in the format requested.

Smoking: Mental Illness

Paul Farrelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of implications for his policies of the recent study published in the journal, Nicotine & Tobacco Research entitled, Prescribing prevalence, effectiveness, and mental health safety of smoking cessation medicines in patients with mental disorders.

Seema Kennedy: No such assessment has been made. The Government keeps evidence on tobacco control under review. Decisions on the best licensed smoking cessation support to prescribe are a matter for clinicians in discussion with their patients, taking account of guidance including advice published by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence.

NHS: Staff

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that (a) NHS Trusts and (b) Care Commissioning Groups are able to deliver the objectives of the Long-Term Plan in the absence of the NHS People Plan.

Stephen Hammond: The interim NHS People Plan, published on 3 June 2019, puts staff who provide and commission care at the heart of National Health Service policy and delivery. It calls for action to be taken now to make the NHS the best place to work, by reforming the culture and leadership and ensuring all staff feel supported and valued, in an effort to increase workforce recruitment and retention.Regardless of the publication of the People Plan, commissioners will make shared decisions with providers, through Integrated Care Systems, on population health, service redesign and the NHS Long Term Plan implementation.A final People Plan will be published soon after the Spending Review.

NHS: Staff

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment his Department has made of the effect of the cessation of freedom of movement on the NHS workforce.

Stephen Hammond: The Government recognises the need for the National Health Service to be able to continue to recruit effectively from abroad when freedom of movement ends. The Immigration White Paper, ‘The UK’s future skills-based immigration system’, published in December 2018, sets out the foundation for a single immigration system, where it is workers’ skills that matter, not where they come from. This system will remove the cap on skilled migrants, abolish the requirement to undertake a Resident Labour Market Test and significantly improve the timeliness of being able to apply for a visa.Additionally, legislation introduced on 7 March 2019 means health and care professionals with professional qualifications from European Union and Swiss institutions who are currently registered can continue to practise in the United Kingdom as they do now, guaranteeing their ability to work in the NHS.

Pregnancy: Prisoners

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 8 July 2019 to Question 272159, what assessment he has made of the merits of the recommendations made in the Birth Companions Report entitled Birth Charter for women in prisons in England and Wales; and if he will make a statement.

Jackie Doyle-Price: No formal assessment has been made.NHS England and NHS Improvement are responsible for commissioning healthcare services in prisons in England. It is working closely with Public Health England and Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service on a review of how current practice meets the Gender Specific Standards for Women in Prison to improve health and wellbeing, published in March 2019. Standards are included around the care of pregnant and post pregnant women.NHS England is developing a mental health perinatal service to ensure maternity services meet the needs of pregnant and post-partum women across the estate.

Stem Cells: Donors

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 9 July 2019 to Question 273333 on Stem cells: donors, what the targets are for the proportion of donors that must be from BAME backgrounds.

Caroline Dinenage: Since 2011 the Department has provided more than £26 million in financial support to NHS Blood and Transplant and Anthony Nolan to enable the establishment of a unified United Kingdom Stem Cell Registry and improve stem cell donation. This includes improving equity of access to unrelated donor stem cell transplantation for Black Asian Minority Ethnic (BAME) patients through targeted recruitment to the UK Stem Cell Registry. This funding is in addition to the recruitment campaigns run by NHS Blood and Transplant, Anthony Nolan and other partnersIn 2017 the Department funded recruitment for 6,000 extra donors from BAME background and continues to fund recruitment of genome-typed BAME donors who are then much more likely to donate. Working collaboratively to recruit more BAME donors with our partners, 22% of donors recruited in 2018-19 were of BAME background.1As part of the funding outlined above an Umbilical Cord Blood bank has been established. In its funding contribution the Department has set specific targets about the proportion of donors that must be from BAME background which is at least 35% and this target is being met.1 https://www.anthonynolan.org/sites/default/files/State_Of_The_Registry_201819.pdf

Addictions: Health Services

Dr Dan Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 8 July 2019 to Question 270773 on Addiction Services, what plans has he to increase the availability of medically-staffed detoxification beds in England; and if he will make a statement.

Seema Kennedy: Local authorities are responsible for assessing local substance misuse need, and commissioning services to meet that need, including inpatient medically-staffed detoxification beds in England. Local areas can work together to commission some types of drug and alcohol treatment which may be more effectively commissioned by partnerships of more than one locality. This could be on a regional basis or within the boundaries of sustainability and transformation partnerships or integrated care systems.

In Vitro Fertilisation

Colleen Fletcher: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the (a) financial, (b) emotional and (c) medical implications for couples experiencing infertility problems of IVF services being decommissioned by clinical commissioning groups.

Colleen Fletcher: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps his Department has take to ensure equity of access to IVF treatment throughout England.

Colleen Fletcher: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department has taken to prevent clinical commissioning groups from decommissioning IVF services.

Jackie Doyle-Price: Infertility is recognised as a disease by all mainstream international health organisations. In the United Kingdom, infertility affects one in seven of all couples of child-bearing age. It can cause great psychological distress for those seeking to start a family, if not addressed. There are effective treatments and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) Fertility Guidelines set out clearly how the treatment can be offered in the most clinically and cost-effective way. The Government recognises that there is variation in the commissioning of National Health Service fertility services across England. Patients with infertility have every right to expect NHS services based on clinical need. Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) have a statutory responsibility to commission healthcare services that meet the needs of their whole population, including fertility services. The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority’s guidance for commissioners is a new tool to help them implement NICE Fertility Guidelines and use the benchmark price treatments. I wrote to the Chief Executives of all CCGs in England on 17 June 2019 to promote the guidance and benchmark price, and strongly encourage them to implement fully the NICE Fertility Guidelines.

Department for International Development

Overseas Aid

Mr Gavin Shuker: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps his Department is taking to ensure the UK meets its ODA obligations in the event that the UK leave the European Union without a deal.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The Department, working with Treasury and other Government departments, is always planning for contingencies to ensure that the UK meets its ODA obligations. The consequences of leaving the European Union without a deal come within this broader contingency planning.

Occupied Territories: Health Services

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps he is taking to help ensure that (a) health workers in the Occupied Palestinian Territories are protected from attack and (b) perpetrators of such attacks are held accountable.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The UK is clear that no health workers or aid workers should be at risk of violence, that they must have the protection they need from the responsible authorities to allow them to do their jobs in safety, and that the rule of law must prevail to deal with perpetrators.

Gaza: Patients

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent assessment his Department has made of the effect of permit restrictions imposed by the Government of Israel on (a) medical patients and (b) companions of those medical patients seeking to exit Gaza.

Dr Andrew Murrison: Restrictions on movement and access imposed by the Israeli authorities on Gaza have resulted in a worsening of the already poor humanitarian situation. In May, 2,206 permit applications were made to the Government of Israel to enter Israel at the Erez crossing for healthcare, with 61% approved, 8% denied and 31% delayed. In the same month, 2,426 patient companion applications were made with 47% approved, 13% denied and 40% pending. The UK regularly raises and will continue to call on the Israeli government to ease access restrictions further and for Israel and the Palestinian Authority to work together to ensure a durable solution for Gaza. In addition to our diplomatic efforts, we have recently announced a new £1.6 million package of support to be delivered through the World Health Organisation which will help to provide life-saving treatment to more than 380,000 people in Gaza, including a new limb unit.

Department for Education

STEM Subjects: Equality

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking with the Secretary of State for Education to increase gender equality in STEM subjects.

Nick Gibb: The Government is committed to increasing gender equality in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects. Efforts have been made to ensure that girls and boys can succeed on an equal basis particularly in STEM. Data from the Joint Council for Qualifications shows that entries by girls made up 27.2% of all entries to A levels in STEM subjects in 2018, an increase of 6.4 percentage points since 2010. There is near gender parity in most STEM subjects at GCSE with entries by girls making up 50% of those sitting biology, physics and chemistry GCSEs respectively in 2018. The Department is funding a £2.4 million program to improve girls’ participation in computer science. The Department also funds the Stimulating Physics Network to improve progression to A level physics with a particular focus on improving girls’ participation. The Department has committed to improving STEM careers advice in schools in the Careers Strategy. This includes ensuring that STEM engagement, such as with employers and apprenticeships, are built into school career programmes by updating school and college statutory guidance. The Department is also raising awareness of the range of careers that STEM qualifications offer through programmes such as STEM ambassadors, 44% of which ambassadors are women.

Pupils: Per Capita Costs

Dr Dan Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the level of education funding was per pupil in Suffolk in (a) 2009-10 and (b) 2018-19.

Nick Gibb: ​The revenue funding allocated for schools for financial years 2009-10 and 2018-19 for Suffolk local authority are shown in the table below.Financial YearSuffolk local authority2009-10£420.9 million2018-19£549.6 million

Schools: Sports

Paul Farrelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to (a) increase participation in sport in schools and (b) ensure that sport remains on the curriculum.

Nadhim Zahawi: ​The government firmly believes in the importance of physical education (PE), sport and extra-curricular activities to teach children the importance of physical activity to improve their physical and mental health as well as their overall wellbeing. Schools are free to organise and deliver a diverse and challenging PE curriculum that suits the needs of all of their pupils. However, PE is the only foundation subject on the national curriculum at all 4 key stages. The national curriculum must be taught by all maintained schools and it provides a frame of reference for academies in deciding what to offer as part of their broad and balanced curriculum offer. Ofsted’s new inspection framework, which will come into effect from September 2019, has spilt the current judgement for personal development, behaviour and welfare into 2 new separate judgements: ‘behaviour and attitudes’ and ‘personal development’. This will give greater recognition to the work of schools to support the personal development of pupils, such as the opportunities that they have to learn about eating healthily and maintaining an active lifestyle. Inspectors will expect to see schools offering children a broad, balanced education, including opportunities to be active during the school day and through extracurricular activities.Since 2013, the government has invested over £1 billion of ringfenced funding through the Primary PE and Sport Premium to improve PE, sport, physical activity and extra-curricular activities for all pupils in England. We will shortly be publishing our cross-government school sport and activity action plan, under which the Department for Education, working with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and the Department of Health and Social Care, will consider further ways to ensure that all children have access to high quality, protected PE and sport sessions during the school week and opportunities to be physically active throughout the school day.

Music: Education

Mohammad Yasin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what figures he holds on the cost of music lessons for (a) primary and (b) secondary school pupils per term for each local authority in England.

Nick Gibb: The information requested is not held centrally regarding individual schools and how much they spend on music education, as this is delivered within every school's core funding. However, the Government is clear that music is an important subject and that all pupils should receive a high quality music education, at least up to age 14 as part of the national curriculum. In addition, the Government is providing funding of over £300 million for music education hubs between 2016 and 2020.Music education hubs cover every local authority area, and focus on assessing and meeting local needs of children, drawing on a range of local, national and regional music and arts provision in each area. The core roles of the hubs are to ensure that every child aged 5-18 can learn a musical instrument through whole-class ensemble teaching programmes for ideally a year (but for a minimum of a term) of weekly tuition on the same instrument. Their role is also to provide opportunities to play in ensembles and to perform from an early stage, to ensure that clear progression routes are available and affordable to all young people, and to develop a singing strategy to ensure that every pupil sings regularly and that choirs and other vocal ensembles are available in the area.Financial allocations to music education hubs by local authority area can be found at: https://www.artscouncil.org.uk/music-education/music-education-hubs.In order to ensure all pupils are able to enjoy a high quality music education, the Department is developing and publishing a non-statutory model music curriculum for Key Stages 1-3. This will expand on the statutory programmes of study and act as a benchmark for all schools.

Nurseries: Babies

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the average nursery costs for children under two years old in (a) the UK, (b) Yorkshire and the Humber and (c) York in the most recent period for which figures are available.

Nadhim Zahawi: The department published the ‘Early years providers cost study: 2018’ in February 2019, which shows that the mean hourly delivery cost for children under 2 years old in England is £5.18. This figure should be treated with caution due to the small sample size. Data is not available for the UK due to survey coverage and is not available at a regional level or local authority level due to small sample sizes. The data is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-providers-cost-study-2018.

Universities: Racial Discrimination

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the article in the Guardian entitled A demeaning environment: stories of racism in UK universities, published 5 July 2019, if he will hold discussions with the Office for Students on their assessment of the scale and nature of racism in UK universities.

Chris Skidmore: There is no place in our society, including within higher education (HE) for hatred or any form of harassment, discrimination or racism. The government is working closely with the Universities UK (UUK) and the Office for Students (OfS) to support work to address racism and other forms of harassment in HE, including implementation of UUK’s Sexual Violence and Harassment Taskforce’s recommendations. Ministers and officials in the department meet regularly with the OfS, stakeholders and representative bodies about a range of student experience issues including racism, hate crime and harassment in HE. This includes specific quarterly meetings with the OfS to discuss how to tackle harassment and hate crime, including racism within the sector. In its ministerial guidance, the government has asked the OfS to support this work and to make campuses places of tolerance for all students, and over £2 million has been invested in projects addressing hatred and harassment in HE.The government will continue to work closely with the OfS to prioritise tackling of all forms of harassment and hate crime in higher education.

Primary Education: Free School Meals

Sandy Martin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to ensure that the provision of free school meals to all infant school aged children does not adversely affect (a) the allocation of and (b) level of registration for pupil premium funding.

Nadhim Zahawi: We are determined to give every child, regardless of their background, the very best start in life. Free school meals are key to this and we want all parents whose children are entitled to them to apply for them. The continuing provision of free school meals to children from out of work families or those on low incomes is of the utmost importance to this government. We want to make sure as many eligible pupils as possible are claiming their free school meals, and to make it as simple as possible for schools and local authorities to determine eligibility.To support this, we provide an Eligibility Checking System to make the checking process as quick and straightforward as possible for schools and local authorities. We have developed a model registration form to help schools encourage parents to sign up for free school meals. We also provide guidance to Jobcentre Plus advisers so that they can make Universal Credit recipients aware that they may also be entitled to wider benefits, including free school meals.We understand there are some concerns that schools could be missing out on valuable pupil premium funding due to under registration for free school meals. However, school census data shows that the introduction of Universal Infant Free School Meals has not adversely affected infant registration rates.

Schools: Uniforms

Gill Furniss: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of school uniforms being gender neutral.

Nick Gibb: The Government wants children to be able to attend a school of their parents’ choice wherever possible. No school uniform should leave pupils or their families feeling unable to apply to, or attend, a school of their choice.The Department publishes guidance to help schools understand how the Equality Act affects them and how to fulfil their duties under the Act. This includes a duty on schools not to discriminate unlawfully due to the protected characteristics of sex and gender reassignment. As part of the government’s LGBT Action Plan, the Department has committed to updating this guidance and this will be published in due course. The LGBT Action Plan also contains a commitment that Government Equalities Office will work with the Equality and Human Rights Commission to publish comprehensive guidance for schools on how to support transgender pupils. The Equality Act guidance is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/equality-act-2010-advice-for-schools.The Department already publishes guidance for schools on setting school uniform policies. The guidance sets out that a school should ensure that its school uniform policy is fair and reasonable for all its students and that policies should be flexible enough to accommodate the different needs of pupils.In making decisions about its school uniform policy, and all other school policies, a school must have regard to its obligations under the Human Rights Act 1998, the Equality Act 2010 and the Public Sector Equality Duty. The school uniform guidance is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-uniform.

Apprenticeships

Peter Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many apprenticeships were created in 2018 as a result of capital infrastructure projects.

Anne Milton: The information requested is not held centrally.The department does publish a wide range of data on apprenticeships on a monthly, quarterly and annual basis, including on the number of starts in each sector subject area. These resources are available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/fe-data-library-apprenticeships.

Manufacturing Industries: Apprentices

Peter Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many apprenticeships were created in the manufacturing sector in 2018.

Peter Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many apprenticeships were created in the energy sector in 2018.

Peter Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many apprenticeships were created in the construction sector in 2018.

Anne Milton: The most recent statistics on apprenticeships starts by industry sector cover the academic years 2012/13 to 2016/17 and are published on GOV.UK:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/apprenticeships-in-england-by-industry-characteristics.In 2016/17 there were:36,170 starts in the manufacturing sector;1,620 starts in the energy sector; and31,610 starts in the construction sector.Statistics for 2017/18 are due to be published in October 2019.

Sex and Relationship Education

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, who has responsibility for developing resources to teach pupils about HIV within Relationships and Sex Education.

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which providers are creating resources to teach pupils about Sexually Transmitted Infections in Relationships and Sex Education.

Nick Gibb: From September 2020, the Department expects schools to teach the new content in the relationships education, relationships and sex education (RSE) and health education guidance. The statutory guidance is clear that at the secondary level, RSE includes teaching about sexually transmitted infections, including HIV/AIDs. Teaching should also include HIV prevention and the importance of testing, as well as how and where to access advice and treatment. Schools are free to decide which resources to use and the Department entrusts headteachers with responsibility for making those decisions. The guidance is clear that schools should draw on medically accurate information and set this in the broader context of the subjects. The Department is committed to supporting schools to teach the new subjects to a high standard. The Department will continue to work with subject experts to ensure that schools are supported in improving their practice, focusing on an implementation guide, support for training needs and materials. The Department has announced a budget of £6 million in the 2019-20 financial year to develop this programme of support for schools. Funding beyond 2019-20 is a matter for the forthcoming Spending Review.

Literacy: Children

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the National Literacy Trust's report Children, young people and digital reading, published by the  on 30 April 2019, on the literacy benefits of children reading both digital and print formats.

Nick Gibb: The Department welcomes the National Literacy Trust’s research on reading in both print and digital forms.The Department wants children to develop the habit of reading widely and often, for both pleasure and information, whatever the format. Research suggests that reading for pleasure is more important for children’s educational development than their parents’ level of education.There is sound evidence that systematic synthetic phonics is a highly effective method of teaching reading to children. Phonics performance is improving: in 2018, there were 163,000 more 6-year-olds on track to become fluent readers compared to 2012. This represented 82% of pupils meeting the expected standard in the phonics screening check, compared to just 58% when the check was introduced in 2012.Building on the success of our phonics partnerships and phonics roadshows programmes, in 2018, the Department launched a £26.3 million English Hubs Programme. Hub schools are taking a leading role in improving the teaching of early reading through systematic synthetic phonics, early language development, and reading for pleasure. The Department has appointed 34 primary schools across England as English Hubs.

Pre-school Education: Finance

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions he has had with the Chancellor for the Exchequer on increasing funding for early years education in the forthcoming spending review.

Nadhim Zahawi: My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, has had many discussions with the Chancellor about a range of issues across the department. Spending plans beyond 2019-20 will be set at the next Spending Review and we cannot pre-empt these decisions. The department is committed to securing the right deal for early years education.

Children: Day Care

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will maintain Government funding for the 30-hours childcare policy.

Nadhim Zahawi: All future funding decisions on our early education entitlements will be taken as part of the forthcoming Spending Review.

Children: Day Care

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the APPG for Childcare and Early Education July 2019 report entitled Steps to Sustainability; and if he will make a statement.

Nadhim Zahawi: We want parents to have access to a range of affordable childcare, giving them increased flexibility in their working hours and helping children thrive in the crucial early years. That is why the Department for Education is investing £3.5 billion in early education offers this year alone, more than any previous government.The ‘Steps to Sustainability’ report makes a valuable contribution to our knowledge base about early education and childcare. We continue to monitor the provider market closely through a range of projects which provide insight into various aspects of the provider market.

Children: Day Care

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of levels of (a) recruitment and (b) retention in the childcare sector in the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Nadhim Zahawi: The information requested is not held centrally. The department’s annual childcare and early years provider survey provides an estimate on the size of the early years’ workforce. Based on the 2018 survey findings, there are an estimated 430,500 staff working in early years provision (including staff in school nurseries and reception classes). This information is available at the following link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/788753/Survey_of_Childcare_and_Early_Years_Providers_2018_Main_Summary.pdf.

Children: Day Care

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of trends in the level of the (a) opening and (b) closure of childcare settings in (a) affluent and (b) disadvantaged areas.

Nadhim Zahawi: Ofsted publishes termly data on childcare providers and inspections. This statistical release confirms the number of providers that have registered with Ofsted (joiners) and the number that have left (leavers) in the relevant period. No data is published on trends of childcare settings opening and closing in affluent areas compared to disadvantaged areas.As at 31 March 2019, there were 76,600 childcare providers registered with Ofsted, down by 1% (600) since December 2018. However, the overall number of childcare places increased by 3,200 since December 2018. This information is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/childcare-providers-and-inspections-as-at-31-march-2019/childcare-providers-and-inspections-as-at-31-march-2019-main-findings.

Social Services: Children

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what financial support Partners in Practice has provided to each local authority to help establish (a) Trust models and (b) Community Interest Companies in relation to local authority children's services departments.

Nadhim Zahawi: The Partners in Practice programme includes one Community Interest Company (Achieving for Children) and one independent Trust (Doncaster Children’s Services Trust). No funding has been provided from the Partners in Practice programme to assist with the setting up of these arrangements.

Holiday Activities and Food Research Fund

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the (a) titles, (b) amount awarded and (c) reasons for decisions were for the (i) unsuccessful and (ii) successful bids for grant funding from the Holiday Activities and Food Programme for the summer holidays in (A) 2018 and (B) 2019.

Nadhim Zahawi: In 2018, we announced a programme of work to explore ways of supporting disadvantaged families during school holidays.We received 94 applications for funding from organisations across the country for a share of £2 million. Following a 2-stage competitive bid assessment process, we awarded funding to the 7 highest scoring organisations: Feeding Britain, Family Action, Street Games UK, On Side Youth Zones, Children North East, Birmingham Holiday Kitchen and TLG. The 87 unsuccessful organisations were notified and offered feedback on their application.Building on the 2018 programme we quadrupled funding and strengthened the programme to encourage co-ordination in local communities so that even more disadvantaged children can benefit.Applications were invited from organisations to act as a coordinator in a specific local authority area. We received 92 applications and selected 11 for funding, including at least one in each of the 9 English regions. As with 2018, unsuccessful bidders were all notified and feedback was offered.The purpose of this programme is to allow us to gather more evidence about the scale of the issue, the most effective ways of tackling it, and the costs and burdens associated with doing so. As a result, we will be able to make an evidence-based decision about whether and how we should intervene in the longer term.

Holiday Activities and Food Research Fund

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he plans to launch a Holiday Activities and Food Programme for 2020.

Nadhim Zahawi: In January 2018, we announced a programme to ensure that disadvantaged young people could access healthy food and enriching activities during the school holidays. We awarded £2 million to 7 organisations, working in some of the most disadvantaged areas in the country, for the 2018 summer holidays.We more than quadrupled this funding to £9 million for 2019. During the summer holidays, in 11 areas across the country, we will explore how the local coordination of the provision nutritious food and enriching and healthy activities can help more disadvantaged pupils to access free high quality holiday club provision during the school holidays.The purpose of this programme is to allow us to gather more evidence about the scale of the issue, the most effective ways of tackling it and the costs and burdens associated with doing so. As a result, we will be able to make an evidence-based decision about whether and how we should intervene in the longer term.

Ministry of Justice

Legal Aid Scheme: South Wales

Chris Elmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many solicitors that previously offered legal aid services no longer do so in South Wales, in the last five years.

Paul Maynard: The Legal Aid Agency (LAA) does not record information about individual solicitors and does not hold or record data by the geographic definition in the question that has been tabled.

Prisoners' Release

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, which Government Department is responsible for ensuring people due to be released from prison are released with a (a) valid photo ID, (b) bank account and (c) JobCentre appointment for universal credit.

Robert Buckland: The Ministry of Justice has responsibility for ensuring people are released from prison with a valid photo ID and a bank account. We recognise the importance of this support and have made changes so that Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRC) are clearly responsible for the provision of identification documents and bank accounts, as part of Through the Gate support to prisoners on release. We have invested an additional £22 million per annum to improve delivery of these vital services for the remainder of the CRC contracts. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has responsibility for Universal Credit and Jobcentre appointments. We are working closely with the DWP to agree a National Partnership Agreement which sets out how the two Departments work together to support ex-offenders into employment. We are also working with DWP to help support these work coaches, and to further ensure they have the tools and support to do their jobs effectively.

Offenders: Employment

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, by what (a) criteria and (b) date the performance of his Department’s New Futures Network initiative supporting offenders into employment will be assessed.

Robert Buckland: We are completing the roll-out of the New Futures Network, with 13 of the 15 geographical prison groups across England and Wales now covered. The New Futures Network is responsible for three things:The availability and quality of work for prisoners in commercial workshops.Brokering partnerships with employers that produce workplace ROTL opportunities.Brokering partnerships that generate employment opportunities on release. It will be assessed against those criteria at the end of this financial year, as part of the annual HMPPS reporting cycle.

Employment Tribunals Service: Fees and Charges

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 8 July 2019 to Question 272279, how many people (a) are entitled to be  and (b) have been reimbursed for employment tribunal fees.

Paul Maynard: The number of people (a) entitled to an employment tribunal fee refund is 64,426 and (b) the number that have been reimbursed is 33,787.

Probate Service: Staff

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many full-time equivalent staff were employed by the Probate Service in each of the last six months.

Paul Maynard: Jan-19Feb-19Mar-19Apr-19May-19Jun-19AGENCY STAFF RESOURCE29.427.426.426.426.426.4FTE STAFF RESOURCE124.49122.94120.94120.9120.9118Further to these totals we have arrange additional help from HMCTS and other government departments, these are:HMRC SURGE TEAM0000021BRADFORD DSCS000003HMCTS LEGAL ADVISERS000002.5ADDITIONAL HMCTS RESOURCE000059 TOTALS (FTE)153.89150.34147.34147.3147.3179.9 In addition to these we also now have 35 staff in the Courts and Tribunals Service Centre who are trained in probate.

Probate Service: Redundancy

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many members of staff have left the Probate Service in each of the last six months.

Paul Maynard: 6 members of staff have left the Probate Service in the last 6 months. Our new online service is making probate simpler and more convenient for bereaved people. Staffing is making increased and the digital service further improves to help reduce waiting times.

Probate Service: Agency Workers

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many agency staff have been employed by the Probate Service in each of the last six months.

Paul Maynard: Jan-19Feb-19Mar-19Apr-19May-19Jun-19AGENCY STAFF RESOURCE (Full Time Equivalent)29.427.426.4292929 Our new online service is making probate simpler and more convenient for bereaved people. Some grants are experiencing delays of between four and six weeks as a result of problems in April but we are now issuing in excess of 1,000 grants a day that is bringing waiting times down further.

Probate Service: Length of Service

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average length of service for a member of staff at the Probate Service was in each of the last four quarters.

Paul Maynard: Q1 (JUL18-SEP18) (in years)Q2 (OCT18-DEC18) (in years)Q3 (JAN19-MAR19) (in years)Q4 (APR19-JUN19) (in years)BIRMINGHAM16161616BRIGHTON8.27.77.46.2CARDIFF/BRISTOL13.6513.6513.6514LEEDS18181616LIVERPOOL18.4171717LONDON20.618.118.118.1MANCHESTER20202021.8NEWCASTLE/IPSWICH15.415.415.2515.25OXFORD13101010WINCHESTER21222222total164.25157.85155.4156.35average16.42515.78515.5415.635

Department for International Trade

Exports: Import Duties

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what estimate his Department has made of the annual gross value of tariffs that would be paid by UK businesses on exports in the event that the UK leaves the EU without an agreement.

George Hollingbery: Department for International Trade indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Arms Trade: Saudi Arabia

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, if he will place in the Library a copy of the witness statement of the Head of the Export Control Joint Unit dated 27 June 2019 in his Department's application to appeal the Court of Appeal judgment of 20 June 2019.

Graham Stuart: We do not propose to place documents related to these court proceedings in the Library. There are specific rules of court procedure concerning access to documents on the court file in line with principles of open justice which provide a mechanism for public access.

Arms Trade: Saudi Arabia

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 27 June 2019 to Question 267763 on Standard Individual Export Licences: Saudi Arabia, what the estimated value is of the 57 export licences for Saudi Arabia under consideration on 20 June 2019.

Graham Stuart: Any applications being considered for the granting of licences have not been published as official statistics on GOV.UK and therefore information about those applications cannot be disclosed. In addition, since no decision has been taken on these export licence applications, I am also withholding this information as its disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice relations between the United Kingdom and another State. The data currently published on GOV.UK covers licences where a decision was made prior to 1 January 2019, with details of each licence correct as at 15 March 2019. Information from the period 1 January 2019 to 31 March 2019 will be published on 16 July 2019 and data covering the period 1 April 2019 to 30 June 2019 will be published in October 2019.

Prime Minister

Yemen: Armed Conflict

Keith Vaz: To ask the Prime Minister, what discussions she held with Government leaders on the situation in Yemen at the G20 Summit in Japan on 28-29 June 2019.

Mrs Theresa May: I refer the right hon. Member to my statement on 29 June at the G20 summit, which is available at the gov.uk website https://www.gov.uk/government/news/pm-statement-at-the-g20-summit-29-june-2019 .

Ministry of Defence

Royal Fleet Auxiliary: Job Satisfaction

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent assessment she has made of levels of satisfaction amongst civilian seafarers employed by the Royal Fleet Auxiliary; and what the results were of any such assessments undertaken since 2010.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: An independent Royal Fleet Auxiliary attitude survey was conducted in 2017 and all members of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary were encouraged to participate. Of the 45% of staff who completed this survey, 42% were satisfied with Royal Fleet Auxiliary life in general.

Royal Fleet Auxiliary: Pay

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the effect of RPI inflation has been on the value of the pay of civilian seafarers in the Royal Fleet Auxiliary since 2008-09.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: This information is not held by the Department. As Ministry of Defence Civil Servants, the pay of members of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary is governed by HM Treasury Public Sector Pay Guidance.

Royal Fleet Auxiliary: Staff

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the average age is of civilian (a) ratings and (b) officers employed by the Royal Fleet Auxiliary.

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) women and (b) men are employed by the Royal Fleet Auxiliary.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: As at 1 April 2019 the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) employed 1,880 personnel. There were 137 women and 1,743 men, equating to 7.3% of RFA employees being women. The average age of ratings was 43 years and the average age of officers was 39 years.

Royal Fleet Auxiliary: Equal Pay

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate she has made of the gender pay gap in the Royal Fleet Auxiliary.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: All Royal Fleet Auxiliary personnel are Civil Servants and are, therefore, included in the Ministry of Defence's (MOD) Civil Servant gender pay gap reporting.Overall, as at 31 March 2018, the MOD's median civilian gender pay gap of 10.9% (down 3.7 percentage points from the previous year) and 0.09% for military personnel (down 0.13 percentage points), compares favourably with the UK's national gender median pay gap of 17.9%.The gender pay gap continues to narrow and the MOD is committed to reducing it further as we continue to promote policies that help all individuals reach their potential.Further information on the MOD's Gender Pay Gap Reporting 2018 can be found at the following link:https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/766751/20181207_MOD_Gender_Pay_Gap_Report_Narrative_2018-FINALPDF.pdf

Royal Fleet Auxiliary: Ethnic Groups

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what proportion of civilian staff in the Royal Fleet Auxiliary are BAME.

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many civilian staff in the Royal Fleet Auxiliary identify as LGBT+.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) does not hold this information as Royal Fleet Auxiliary personnel are not mandated to record it. The Biannual Civilian Personnel Report, produced by Defence Statistics, does, however, contain published information on MOD civilian staff which includes Defence wide LGBT+ and BAME statistics.

Veterans UK: Finance

Chris Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of the funding available to Veterans UK.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Funding for Veterans UK is allocated through Defence Business Services (part of the Ministry of Defence) according to annual bids based on business forecast demand. Funding for additional in-year demand or business requirements may be made as required during the financial year.

Armed Forces Independence Payment

Chris Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the armed forces independence payment in providing financial support to veterans.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) keeps all aspects of the support provided to injured Service personnel under continual review to ensure that the provision remains fit for purpose; this includes the Armed Forces Independence Payment (AFIP) which the MOD introduced in 2013, in conjunction with the Department for Work and Pensions, to simplify the financial support available for members of the Armed Forces who have been seriously injured as a result of Service since 6 April 2005. The AFIP provides eligible recipients with on-going payments to help with the additional costs associated with their injuries. Service personnel and veterans who are entitled to a Guaranteed Income Payment of 50% or higher through the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme are eligible for AFIP, which is tax-free and paid for life with no review. In addition to continual internal review, the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (including AFIP) is subject to a formal quinquennial review, last conducted in 2017: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-armed-forces-compensation-scheme-quinquennial-review

War Pensions

Chris Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the war pensions scheme for injured veterans.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The War Pension Scheme (WPS) is kept under continual review to ensure that the scheme is fit for purpose. War Pensions payments and associated allowances are uprated annually to protect against rising prices. In April 2019, rates for Financial Year 2019-20 increased by 2.4% in line with the September 2018 Consumer Price Index.It remains the case that any veteran who believes they have suffered ill-health or injury due to service in the Armed Forces before 6 April 2005 is eligible to claim no-fault compensation under the WPS, which has no time limits and with the benefit of reasonable doubt always given to the claimant.Decisions are medically certified and follow consideration of service and medical evidence and carry full rights of appeal to an independent tribunal. Where the evidence supports a causal link to service, entitlement will be given.The WPS also includes dependant benefits, which can be substantial over a period of time.

Guided Weapons: Procurement

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how long it would take, and at what cost, for her Department to procure a Brimstone missile.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how long it would take, and at what cost, for her Department to procure  a PGM 2000 missile.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how long it would take, and at what cost, for her Department to procure a Harpoon missile.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how long it would take, and at what cost, for her Department to procure a Storm Shadow missile.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how long it would take, and at what cost, for her Department to procure a Spearfish torpedo.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how long it would take, and at what cost, for her Department to procure a Tomahawk Land Attack Cruise Missile.

Stuart Andrew: The lead times for replenishing missiles is typically between 18 and 36 months depending on the munition type. Procurement costs are regularly reviewed and are dependent on the quantity of missiles being procured, customer priorities and market conditions at the time. I am withholding specific details of lead times which would, or would be likely to prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces and forecast cost estimates which are commercially sensitive.The PGM 2000 missile system is not a UK defence capability.

Guided Weapons: Procurement

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how long it would take, and at what cost, for her Department to procure a Trident D-5 missile.

Stuart Andrew: The UK's Trident II D5 missiles form part of a pool of available missiles shared with the US. The UK pays an annual contribution to the continued maintenance of the missile stock based on our share of the overall missile inventory.

Armed Forces

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many full-time personnel are currently in the three branches of the UK's armed forces.

Mark Lancaster: The Ministry of Defence publishes quarterly Service Personnel statistics which include the requested information. The latest edition, with figures as at 1 April 2019, can be found at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/quarterly-service-personnel-statistics-2019

HMS Prince of Wales

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the HMS Prince of Wales will be placed into the service of the Royal Navy.

Stuart Andrew: Yes. HMS PRINCE OF WALES is structurally complete and on current plans will commence contractor sea trials in late 2019. Her first entry to Portsmouth will take place during those sea trials and her commissioning into the Royal Navy will follow their completion. Both of these dates have yet to be determined.

Military Exercises

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the timetable is for the conclusion of Operation Sea Breeze.

Mark Lancaster: Exercise SEA BREEZE concluded on 12 July 2019.

Marines: Guided Weapons

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when the Royal Marines will be ready to use the Lightweight Multirole Missile against drones.

Stuart Andrew: On current plans the Royal Marines will declare initial NATO compliant operating capability for the Lightweight Multirole Missile in early 2021.

Estonia: Military Exercises

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many UK-led Joint Expeditionary Force demonstrations her Department plans to conduct in Estonia in the next two years.

Mark Lancaster: The UK led Joint Expeditionary Force provides, through collaboration with the partnering nations, an increased profile and presence in the Baltic Sea and High North region across multiple domains. Both operationally and through collective training, the UK's engagement in the coming years will be characterised by smaller scale, but more frequent activities in co-operation with all regional partners, of which Estonia is an important member. The opportunities and frequency of participation by Estonia is being reviewed through regular consultations at both the political and military level.

Army Reserve: Training

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps she is taking to increase the integration of Army Reserve units in training exercises.

Mark Lancaster: The Army continues to integrate the Army Reserve into the Army and Defence training exercise programme in both participating and supporting roles. The Army Reserve is involved in all of the Army's collective training exercises. All reserve overseas training exercises have an element of Regular Army participation.

Army Reserve: Training

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what funding her Department plans to provide for Reserve Army training in each of the next five financial years.

Mark Lancaster: The Army has budgeted over £100 million for Army Reserve training for the current financial year. This covers Army Reserve Units only and does not include training for Reservists in staff roles in Brigade or Army HQ which would be picked up by the parent unit. The Reserve training budget provides for activity such as classroom-based lessons, physical training, trade training and field exercises. Future budget allocations will be made through our normal financial planning process.

Arctic: Defence

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when she plans to publish the Defence Arctic Strategy.

Mark Lancaster: The Strategy, which will be titled The UK's Defence Contribution in the High North, will be published shortly.

Defence: Space Technology

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when she plans to publish the Defence Space Strategy.

Stuart Andrew: The Ministry of Defence is firmly committed to a number of space programmes, and we are continually assessing our space capabilities, coherence and requirements. Our strategic work on space has developed significantly and will play a key role in Spending Review decisions. We expect to publish later this year.

Department for Work and Pensions

Universal Credit: Wales

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Wales on the roll-out of universal credit.

Alok Sharma: The most recent detailed discussion took place on a visit to Wales on 4th April 2019, where the Secretary of State accompanied the Secretary of State for Wales to the Cardiff Charles Street Jobcentre Plus office, where they had a general discussion around Universal Credit. The roll out of Universal Credit (UC) is now complete and is available in every Jobcentre across the country. As planned, the testing of moving legacy claimants to Universal Credit will take place in Harrogate and will begin this month. The goal of the pilot is to learn as much as possible and to increase numbers as slowly and gradually as necessary. Testing the system and our processes will allow us to make sure we can provide the best possible service to those claimants who will need to move to Universal Credit from their legacy claim as planned, by the end of 2023.

State Retirement Pensions

Clive Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when she will next review the state pension age.

Guy Opperman: The approach of the Labour Government 1997-2010, Coalition 2010-2015 and the Conservative Government has been the same in broad terms. State Pension age reform has focused on maintaining the right balance between sustainability of State Pension and fairness between generations in the face of demographic change. The Pensions Act 2014 requires governments to complete a structured review of State Pension age every 6 years in light of changes in life expectancy and other relevant factors. The Government’s first State Pension age review was published in July 2017.https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/state-pension-age-review-final-report

Pensions

Clive Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps are being taken to protect the pensions of UK and EU citizens who have previously worked in the UK but now live overseas.

Guy Opperman: Under existing domestic legislation, the UK State Pension can be claimed from and is payable worldwide to those who are entitled. This will continue to be the case whether the UK leaves the EU with or without a deal. As we have stated previously, we will continue to uprate the UK State Pension for those living in the EU in 2019-20, with a view to securing continued reciprocal social security arrangements in the future.

State Retirement Pensions

Clive Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to help people who have been severely affected by changes in the state pension age.

Guy Opperman: The number of older people in employment is at a record high. There are now 10.5 million workers aged 50 and over in the workforce compared to 9.1 million five years ago. To support women to remain and return to the labour market, the Government has removed the Default Retirement Age meaning most people can choose when to retire, and extended the right to request flexible working to all employees with 26 weeks’ continuous service with their employer. We have appointed a Business Champion for Older Workers to engage and influence employers both strategically and in terms of practical advice. In February 2017, the UK Government published “Fuller Working Lives: a partnership approach” to set out the role employers, individuals and Government can play in supporting fuller working lives. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/587654/fuller-working-lives-a-partnership-approach.pdf Through the National Retraining Partnership, a strategic partnership between Government, the Confederation of British Industry and the Trades Union Congress, Government is developing the National Retraining Scheme. The National Retraining Scheme will help prepare adults for the future changes to the economy, including those brought about by automation, and help them retrain into better jobs. And in February this year, DWP launched an online web page which brings together money, job and health elements of the mid-life MOT. https://www.yourpension.gov.uk/mid-life-mot/ To support employers, Business in The Community has also created MOT guides that support businesses. https://age.bitc.org.uk/tools-impact-stories/toolkits For people who simply can’t work, our welfare system will continue to provide a strong safety net, as it does for people of all ages now. The Government is committed to supporting the vulnerable and spends over £50 billion a year on benefits to support disabled people and people with health conditions.

Pension Credit: Norwich South

Clive Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people of pension age are entitled to pension credit but do not receive it in Norwich South constituency.

Guy Opperman: The information requested on the number of people of pension age entitled to pension credit but do not receive is only available at national level. Official statistics on the take-up of income-related benefits at Great Britain level including Pension Credit, can be found in the ‘Income-related benefits: estimates of take-up in 2016 to 2017’ publication. https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/income-related-benefits-estimates-of-take-up-financial-year-2016-to-2017

Carer's Allowance

Paul Farrelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of increasing the carer's allowance and for it to be paid for each person the carer is responsible for.

Justin Tomlinson: The primary purpose of Carer’s Allowance is to provide a measure of financial support and recognition for people who give up the opportunity of full-time employment in order to provide regular and substantial care for a severely disabled person. It is not, and was never intended to be, a carer’s wage or a payment for the services of caring. It is also not intended to replace lost or forgone earnings in their entirety. A National Insurance Class 1 credit is generally awarded for each week that Carer’s Allowance is paid to a working age carer. Class 1 credits can help towards the conditions of entitlement to all contributory benefits, as well as the new State Pension. In addition to Carer’s Allowance, carers on low incomes can claim income-related benefits, such as Universal Credit and Pension Credit. The Government recognises the invaluable contribution that unpaid and family carers make in all our communities, and is committed to doing more to support them. The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) published a Carers Action Plan in June 2018 setting out plans around support for carers, and in addition to this, carers will be a fundamental part of DHSC’s upcoming Green Paper. A sustainable settlement for social care will simply not be possible without focussing on how our society supports carers. The Government has committed to publishing the Green Paper at the earliest opportunity setting out its proposals for reform. Carers who provide professional caring services to multiple severely disabled people do so as a means of employment and are paid accordingly rather than relying on carers benefits.

Prisoners' release

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people leaving prison in England and Wales were released in the last 12 months with (a) a valid photo ID, (b) a bank account and (c) a JobCentre appointment for universal credit.

Will Quince: The Department has dedicated Prison Work Coaches, who will support prisoners to complete their benefit claims and proceed to payment as quickly as possible. Our aim is to ensure claimants can access Universal Credit on the day of release in a bid to cut re-offending.

Pension Credit: Doncaster North

Edward Miliband: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in Doncaster North constituency that are eligible to claim pension credit do not claim that benefit.

Guy Opperman: The information requested on the number of people who are eligible to claim Pension Credit but do not claim the benefit is only available at national level. Official statistics on the take-up of income related benefits at Great Britain level, including pension credit, can be found in the ‘Income-related benefits: estimates of take-up in 2016 to 2017’ publication. https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/income-related-benefits-estimates-of-take-up-financial-year-2016-to-2017

*No heading*

Andrea Jenkyns: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to promote neuroinclusion in the workplace.

Justin Tomlinson: We are committed to improving employment outcomes and inclusion for disabled people and people with health conditions, including those who are neuro-divergent. For example: Through the Disability Confident scheme, DWP is engaging with employers, offering online guidance and helping to promote the skills, talents and abilities of people with autism and associated hidden impairment conditions. A Disability Confident Toolkit has been developed to provide comprehensive information on autism and other hidden impairments, as well as guidance on employment and local authority services. This Toolkit has been promoted to all Government departments. Research published last year suggests Disability Confident has had a significant impact on disability employment practices. Almost half of employers interviewed said they had recruited at least one person with a disability, long-term health or mental health condition as a result of joining the scheme. This went up to nearly two thirds among larger employers. Access to Work offers eligible individuals practical advice and a discretionary grant of up to £59,200 per year to fund support above the level of an employer’s statutory obligation to make reasonable adjustments. Access to Work staff have a specialist knowledge of disabilities and health conditions, including neuro-divergent conditions, which enables them to offer customers tailored packages of support. DWP is working with the Supported Business Alliance (SBA) and The British Association for Supported Employment (BASE) to develop a new long term element of Access to Work, to support people working for a supported business, many of whom are neuro-divergent. DWP is also working in partnership with Department of Health and Social Care to publish a consultation on how employers can best support disabled people and people with long-term health conditions, including those who are neuro-divergent, to stay and thrive in work.

Universal Credit: Disqualification

Sandy Martin: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many claimants over the age of 60 in receipt of universal credit have been sanctioned in the last 12 months.

Alok Sharma: Statistics on Universal Credit sanctions by age are published and can be found at: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/ Guidance for users is available at: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html

Department for Work and Pensions: Complaints

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many complaints to the Independent Complaints Commissioner are (a) allocated to a caseworker and (b) awaiting allocation to a caseworker as at 11 July 2019.

Will Quince: When the Independent Case Examiner’s (ICE) office accepts a complaint for investigation, it will initially attempt to broker a solution between the complainant and the relevant business area or supplier, without having to request evidence to inform an investigation – this is known as “resolution”. If it’s not possible to resolve the complaint, the evidence will be requested and the case will await allocation to an Investigation Case Manager (ICM). The majority of complaints that are referred to ICE are complex and require a full investigation. Complaint investigations are dealt with by dedicated teams and complaints are usually brought into investigation in strict date order. The time complaints wait to be allocated for investigation varies depending on the volume and complexity of cases on hand and the available investigative resource. Productivity within the ICE Office increased during the 2018-19 reporting year, with the Office clearing 1,246 complaints, compared to 955 during the 2017-18 reporting year. As at 11 July 2019, there were 488 complaints under investigation (allocated to an ICM), and 1,377 complaints were awaiting allocation to an ICM.

Department for Work and Pensions: Complaints

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average time taken is between a case being accepted by the Independent Complaints Commissioner and being allocated to a caseworker in the most recent period for which figures are available; and if she will make a statement.

Will Quince: Complaint investigations are dealt with by dedicated teams and complaints are usually brought into investigation in strict date order. The time complaints wait to be allocated to an Investigation Case Manager (ICM) varies depending on the volume and complexity of cases on hand and the available investigative resource. Productivity within the ICE Office increased during the 2018-19 reporting year, with the Office clearing 1,246 complaints, compared to 955 during the 2017-18 reporting year. As at 11 July 2019, the average time taken for a complaint which requires investigation to be allocated to an ICM was 52 weeks.

Department for Work and Pensions: Complaints

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many complaints for the Independent Complaints Commissioner were received in 2018; and how many of those complaints have been allocated to a caseworker.

Will Quince: The Independent Case Examiner’s (ICE) Office received 5,307 complaints in 2018 of which 1,943 were accepted for examination. Of those complaints accepted, 567 have been allocated to Case Managers.

Social Security Benefits: Terminal Illnesses

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to improve access to benefits for all people who have been diagnosed as terminally ill.

Justin Tomlinson: The Special Rules for Terminal Illness provide a guaranteed entitlement to benefit under a fast track process, without people being required to attend a face-to-face assessment. On 11 July the Secretary of State announced an in-depth evaluation of how the benefits system supports people nearing the end of their life, and those with the most severe conditions.

Universal Credit: Payments

Ruth George: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many requests for spilt payments of universal credit have been (a) made and (b) accepted in each of the last three years.

Alok Sharma: The requested information for part (a) is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost. In response to part (b), the number of Households on UC that make use of the Split Payment option is published and can be found at:https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/Guidance on how to extract the information required can be found at:https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html

Universal Credit: Payments

Ruth George: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many requests for alternative payment arrangements of universal credit have been (a) made and (b) accepted for (i) twice monthly payments and (b) four twice monthly payments in each of the last three years.

Alok Sharma: The requested information is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost. However, information on the number of Households on Universal Credit that have an Alternative Payment Arrangement is published and can be found at:https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/Guidance on how to extract the information required can be found at:https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html

Universal Credit: Terminal Illnesses

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 9 July 2019 to Question 273334, if she will make it her Department's policy to mandate her Department's assessors to record instances in which they have formally questioned a prognosis given by health professionals in DS1500 forms.

Justin Tomlinson: Guidance for assessors is that they should contact the clinician who has completed a DS1500 for clarification if it contains insufficient information, or where no DS1500 is received, to confirm that the claimant is terminally ill. The assessor will record the outcome of their engagement with the clinician when providing their advice to the Department, but these records are not centrally collated. To be clear, the DS1500 states that the clinician is not required to provide a prognosis. Rather, they are asked to provide details of their patient’s diagnosis, clinical features and current or planned treatment.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Squirrels: Pest Control

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to control the grey squirrel population.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: In March this year the Government put in place the Invasive Alien Species (Enforcement and Permitting) Order 2019. Under the Order, listed invasive species including the grey squirrel cannot be imported, kept, bred, transported, sold, used or exchanged, allowed to reproduce, or released into the environment. To support implementation of the Order we will shortly be consulting on management measures for widely spread invasive non-native species in England and Wales, including the grey squirrel. We continue to work with stakeholders under the UK Squirrel Accord, which aims to promote partnership working to protect our red squirrels and woodlands from the damage caused by grey squirrels. Under the joint grey squirrel action plan for England, Defra and the Forestry Commission remain committed to working with land owners and others on measures to support targeted grey squirrel control, for example, through additional measures in forestry options of Countryside Stewardship, as well as through research and taking action on the Forestry Commission’s own land holding (the public forest estate). Defra continues to support research by the Animal Plant and Health Agency to test the potential of fertility control to reduce local grey squirrel populations.

Ivory: Trade

Andrea Jenkyns: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of banning the ivory trade in the UK.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The Ivory Act 2018 received Royal Assent on 20 December 2018 and bans the sale of elephant ivory within the UK, with five areas of exemption.

Ivory: Trade

Andrea Jenkyns: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of banning the non-elephant ivory trade.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: On 30 May 2019 the Government published a call for evidence concerning the trade in ivory from species other than elephants The species in scope are the common hippopotamus, killer whale, narwhal, sperm whale, walrus, common warthog, desert warthog and mammoth. Evidence provided through this call for evidence, which closes on 22 August, will help inform what, if any, action could be taken to further restrict the trade in ivory from one or more of these species.

Agriculture: Ammonia

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, for what reason agricultural ammonia emissions are not monitored from the majority of UK farms.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: Intensive pig and poultry installations are major point sources of ammonia emissions that are regulated under the Industrial Emissions Directive. These farms are required to report their ammonia emissions annually through their pollution inventory return. This requirement applies to installations with more than 40,000 places for poultry, or 2,000 places for production pigs (over 30kg), or 750 places for sows. Agricultural ammonia emissions from all farm types are estimated on a national scale and reported annually through the National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory.

Palm Oil: Imports

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the amount of imports of products containing palm oil into the UK.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The Government is not taking steps to reduce the amount of imports of products containing palm oil into the UK as we recognise the versatility of palm oil and that replacing it with other fats and oils may have unintended consequences, as alternatives usually require more land for production. This was also shown in a 2016 World Wide Fund for Nature report. The Government is, though, committed to achieving sustainably sourced palm oil, working with the private sector and non-governmental organisations to create a UK market for sustainably sourced palm oil and reduce the environmental impact of palm oil production overseas. In 2012, the Government established the UK Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil to improve reporting, traceability and understanding of supply chains to ensure continuous improvement and increased use of certified palm oil. Latest figures indicate that the UK’s certified sustainable palm oil rose from 16% in 2010 to 75% in 2017. The UK’s Global Resource Initiative (GRI) builds upon the Government’s work convening commodity-specific roundtables, and will identify actions the UK can take across supply chains to improve sustainability of products, including palm oil, and reduce deforestation. The UK is also a member of the Amsterdam Declarations Partnership that supports a 100% sustainable palm oil supply chain in Europe, and supports the Tropical Forest Alliance (TFA) which recently secured the Marrakesh Declaration on palm oil, under which seven countries and major companies have agreed principles for responsible palm oil in the region. We recognise that more remains to be done and will continue to explore opportunities to improve the sustainability of palm oil production.

Fish: Exports

Bill Grant: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential effect of the UK leaving the EU without a deal on the (a) costs, (b) regulatory burden and (c) certification processes for UK fish exporters to the EU.

Mr Robert Goodwill: In the event of the UK leaving the EU without a withdrawal agreement in place, the EU will require UK exporters to provide a Catch Certificate and an Export Health Certificate (EHC) when exporting most fish and fisheries products to the EU. Direct landings made by UK fishing vessels into EU ports will need to be accompanied by a Catch Certificate but will not require an EHC. Export health certification is a devolved matter. Responsibility for Scottish exports to third countries lies with the Scottish Government. The Animal and Plant Health Authority issues EHCs for Scotland. Charges for signing EHCs vary by local authority and are made on a cost recovery basis. The consolidation of export consignments into larger consignments covered by a single certificate could reduce this cost burden. The UK Government and the Marine Management Organisation have developed an IT system to allow exporters to obtain a Catch Certificate around the clock at no cost to the exporter. Assuming that the information submitted is correct, the Catch Certificate will be issued immediately without the need for further checks before export.

Water: Meters

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what proportion of homes have water meters in (a) England, (b) the Bywater region and (c) the North Lincs and East Riding local authority areas.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: From observed data over the 2018/19 financial year period: a) 55.7% of household properties in England are metered. b) The ‘Bywater region’ is not known to us. c) North Lincolnshire local authority is located within Anglian Water’s Central Lincolnshire resource zone. It is not possible to split the data further within this zone. From observed data over the 2018/19 period, 85.9% of household properties are metered. East Ridings local authority is completely within Yorkshire Water’s strategic Grid resource zone. It is not possible to split the data further within this zone. From observed data over the 2018/19 period, 51.9% of household properties are metered.

Plastics: Packaging

Angela Crawley: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to promote alternatives to plastic packaging.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: Plastic food packaging serves important purposes such as protecting food, providing important storage information, extending the shelf life and decreasing food waste. The Government is working with retailers and the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) to encourage their efforts to reduce waste and to explore the introduction of plastic-free supermarket initiatives in which fresh food is sold loose, giving consumers the choice. WRAP has published a technical report on the evidence for providing fresh produce loose and we are working with Morrisons to evaluate its current trial of selling produce loose, to assess the impact on food waste. The WRAP Evidence Review: Plastic Packaging and Fresh Produce, pulled together evidence on a variety of fresh produce and summarised the current evidence available on whether it is suitable to be sold loose. Some items, for example cucumbers, have a significantly longer shelf life when shrink wrapped. Our priority is to prevent or reduce waste in the first place. The Packaging (Essential Requirements) Regulations already require all retailers to ensure that all their packaging does not exceed what is needed to make sure that the products are safe, hygienic and acceptable for both the packed product and for the consumer. As part of the Resources and Waste Strategy, we have committed to review the effectiveness of these Regulations by the end of next year. We have also consulted on reforms to the way we manage packaging waste. The reforms to the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations will require producers to fund the full net-cost of managing the packaging they place on the market, once it becomes waste. This creates an incentive for companies to use less packaging and to ensure that their packaging can be recycled at end of life as it will reduce their costs in complying with the Regulations. In our consultation we have set out options for how we want to enhance the incentive for producers to make better packaging design choices. The options are for a modulated fee system or a deposit fee system. These options provide a financial incentive for producers, in addition to the full-net cost fees, to move towards using more easily recycled packaging materials and formats.  In April last year, WRAP and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation launched their world leading UK Plastics Pact, with support from the Government, and all the major supermarkets have signed up to it. The Pact brings these organisations together with four key targets for 2025 that aim to reduce the amount of plastic waste generated, which includes actions to eliminate problematic or unnecessary single-use plastic packaging items. Our proposed reforms will support supermarkets in achieving those targets.

Plastics: Packaging

Angela Crawley: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress the Government has made in incentivising greater reuse or recyclability in plastic packaging.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: This is a devolved matter. The answer applies to England only, though the government works with the Scottish Government on such regulations. Following on from the Resources and Waste strategy, the Government launched several consultations on reforming packaging waste regulations, introducing a deposit return scheme for drinks containers, and increasing consistency in recycling collections for both households and business. These consultations closed on 13 May. The aim of reforming the packaging producer responsibility system is to ensure that packaging producers fund the full net cost of managing the packaging they place on the market once it becomes waste. This provides a strong financial incentive for packaging producers to make better, more sustainable decisions at the design stage and during manufacture, and to take greater responsibility for the environmental impacts of their products. We also consulted on introducing a tax on plastic packaging containing less than 30% recycled content, announced by the Chancellor at the last Budget – this consultation closed on 12 May and the responses are currently being analysed. A Government response will be published in due course. More information on the consultation can be found at: https://consult.defra.gov.uk/environmental-quality/resource-and-waste-and-plastic-packaging-tax-consu-1/ In April last year, Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP) and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation launched their world-leading UK Plastics Pact, with support from the Government, and all the major supermarkets have signed up to it. The Pact brings these organisations together with four key targets for 2025 that aim to reduce the amount of plastic waste generated. Which include action to eliminate problematic or unnecessary single-use plastic packaging items. Our proposed reforms will support supermarkets in achieving those targets.

Litter: Coastal Areas

Angela Crawley: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to tackle coastal littering.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: This is a devolved matter and the information provided therefore relates to England only. The Government published the Litter Strategy for England in April 2017, setting out our aim to clean up the country and deliver a substantial reduction in litter and littering within a generation. The common aim of all the actions set out in the Strategy is to change the behaviour of people who currently feel that it is acceptable to drop litter, whether at the coast or anywhere else. Evidence shows that people drop less litter in a clean environment, and we therefore particularly support efforts to remove litter from coastal environments. Last year saw the largest ever Great British Beach Clean, organised by the Marine Conservation Society (MCS), during which nearly 15,000 volunteers removed 8,550kg of litter from their local beaches. The Government funds the MCS to carry out regular beach litter monitoring studies and cleans. This data helps inform future policies, such as our commitment to a ban on plastic straws, drinks stirrers, and plastic stemmed cotton buds in England from April next year.Earlier this year the Prime Minister also recognised three “points of light” for their outstanding voluntary efforts to tackle marine litter:Jason Alexander, who set up the organisation Rubbish Walks, highlighting the impact that plastic and cigarette butts are having on coastal environments, and inspiring people in his local community to take action.Emily Stevenson, a marine biology graduate, who has set up an industry partnership with Nissan to provide her 'Beach Guardian’ volunteers with transport to litter pick on remote beaches.Dhruv Boruah, organiser of The Thames Project, who uses a specially adapted bike to provide clean ups on the Thames and across the UK, as well as in the Netherlands and the USA, inspiring people worldwide to consider the damaging impact litter and plastics are having on our waterways.

Borders: France

Neil O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of (a) the implications for his policies of the construction of Border Inspection Posts in Calais and Coquelles and (b) whether those posts will be operational by 31 October 2019.

David Rutley: When the UK leaves the EU certain products, such as live animals and animal by-products will be required to enter the EU via a border inspection post. The establishment of new or extended facilities at Calais, Dunkirk and Coquelles will mean that these types of products will continue to be able to trade using the short straits trading routes. These facilities were approved for use if the UK left the EU at the end of March/beginning of April without a deal. The port authorities will need to resubmit for approval in a future no deal scenario.

Motor Vehicles: Litter

Sir Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will monitor the number of (a) prosecutions and (b) fixed penalty notices for dropping litter from a vehicle in England and Wales annually, what plans he has to help reduce the incidence of such offences; and if he will make a statement.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The Government does not collect or monitor any data on the number of prosecutions or fixed penalty notices for littering from vehicles and has no plans to do so. The Government has given powers to local authorities that they requested and it is now for them to use. On 30 November last year we launched our new campaign, “Keep it, Bin it”, with support from the environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy. The campaign imagery is being displayed in all seven Extra Motorway Service Areas (MSA) across England.This year saw the fourth year that Highways England has supported Keep Britain Tidy’s Great British Spring Clean; 19,450 bags of litter were collected in this year’s spring clean, more than doubling last year’s collection of 8,000 bags.We continue to work with Highways England to investigate new ways of reducing littering on our major roads. This includes introducing behavioural interventions such as trialling car and lorry-height funnel bins at the Roadchef MSA in Maidstone on 21 June last year, along the M20, to test whether they reduce littering. The number of bags of litter collected on the on-slips reduced by 47.1%. The first round of the Litter Innovation Fund awarded grants to two projects trialling interventions to tackle roadside litter. The results will be published shortly.

Horse Racing: Animal Welfare

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 16 April 2019 to Question 242198 on Horse Racing: Animal Welfare, what the timescale is for improving the design of starting stalls.

David Rutley: The Government is keen that the welfare needs of racehorses are well met, both during their racing lives and afterwards. The British Horseracing Authority (BHA) is responsible for the safety of racehorses at British racecourses and the BHA works alongside the RSPCA and World Horse Welfare to make horseracing as safe as possible. In relation to starting stalls, the incidence of stalls fatalities is low. In 2018 there was one stalls fatality over the course of 6,591 flat races. In addition the BHA Starting Team discuss any incident which occurs in the stalls with Veterinary Officers and staff handlers to improve safety. However, both I and the BHA consider that more can be done to make horseracing safer in general which is why I have been holding regular discussions with the BHA about this. Most recently on the 14 May, I met with the BHA as well as the new independent Chair of the BHA’s newly appointed Horse Welfare Board. This was a constructive meeting where the number of fatalities of racehorses was acknowledged and both sides agreed that further action is required to tackle avoidable harm and make the sport safer. The Board committed to doing all it can to improve welfare outcomes. I stressed the need for the BHA in conjunction with the Horse Welfare Board to develop a robust action plan that will deliver tangible results and intend to stay in regular contact with both the BHA and newly appointed Horse Welfare Board to continue to press for improvements in racehorse welfare.

Beef: South America

Paul Farrelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans he has to ban the import of beef from South America if it does not meet UK standards for sustainable farming after the UK leaves the EU.

Mr Robert Goodwill: Our current high standards, including import requirements, will apply when we leave the EU. High standards and high quality are what our domestic and global customers demand, and that is what we will provide. We have been clear across Government, from the Prime Minister down, that we will not lower our standards in pursuit of trade deals.

Home Office

Fire Prevention

Emma Dent Coad: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will urgently commission a national review of stay put advice in fire safety policy.

Mr Nick Hurd: Following the Grenfell Tower fire in June 2017, the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) published comprehensive guidance for buildings, such as those with ACM cladding, on what arrangements and interim measures should be established where “stay put” has been suspended. The NFCC carefully reviewed its guidance and reaffirmed the principle of “stay put” where it is appropriate. Its statement on this can be viewed at http://www.nationalfirechiefs.org.uk/Stay-Put-position.The Home Office has no plans to commission a national review of stay put advice. However, the government recognises that questions have been raised about means of escape from blocks of flats and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has commenced a technical review of Building Regulation guidance through a call for evidence on 18 December 2018. This call for evidence identified topics which were candidates for inclusion in the review of Approved Document B (Fire Safety). One of the topics was means of escape in blocks of flats, including the stay-put approach. The call for evidence closed on 15 March 2019 and the Department is in the process of reviewing the evidence provided.

Extradition: USA

Mr David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 2 July 2019 to Question 271378, how many people were extradited from the UK to the United States in each year from 2003 to 2012.

Mr Nick Hurd: The following table provides the information requested:  Total number of people extradited from the UK to the US2003620048200514200619200792008620091620101220118201220All figures are from local management information, and have not been quality assured to the level of published National Statistics. As such they should be treated as provisional and therefore subject to change. The figures do not include Scotland, which deals with its own extradition cases.

VFS Global: Complaints

David Linden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many complaints were made to his Department on the Next Generation Visa Services contract delivered by VFS Global in the most recent period for which statistics are available.

David Linden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment he has made of the technical competency of the digital systems used for document collection by VFS Global in service delivery of the Next Generation Visa Services contract.

Caroline Nokes: Our performance against service standard in relation to customer complaints for UKVI can be at  https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/customer-service-operations-data-may-2019. we do not publish stats on complaints received in relation to individual supplier performance:We are aware that there have been some issues with the VFS document system and UKVI is working with VFS as a priority on a number of actions to improve the service, utilising customer feedback to target areas of improvement.In parallel we are improving our management information reporting package which allows us to regularly monitor the heath and performance of the VFS systems.

Deportation: Human Trafficking

Edward Miliband: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what support his Department provides to young people that were victims of trafficking after they have been returned to their country of origin.

Caroline Nokes: All confirmed victims of modern slavery who have no right to reside in the UK, or who are seeking or have sought asylum, are entitled to use the Voluntary Return Service funded by the Home Office. Individuals will receive a tailored package of support, which can include flights, help with travel documents, medical assistance and financial and reintegration support.Arrangements for children to be returned to their country of origin, where this is in the best interests of the child, can be made by local authorities who have the legal responsibility for those children. A child’s wishes (for example to be reunited with family) as well as any safeguarding or trafficking risks will be considered in the round as part of the best interest’s decision.The Home Office is also working with other governments and NGOs to make sure that when victims do decide to return home, they continue to access the support they need to prevent re-trafficking. For example, The Salvation Army has signed an MoU with La Strada Foundation in Poland to facilitate cooperation to support the safe return of Polish victims and their dependents.The Home Office is also funding support and reintegration assistance to victims of trafficking in Nigeria and Vietnam, which includes support for those returning from the UK, and a similar programme is under development in Albania.

Migrant Workers: Domestic Service

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he has taken to ensure that overseas domestic workers are informed of their rights as workers in the UK; and if he will make a statement.

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the timeframe is for the planned information sessions on the employment rights of overseas domestic workers; and if he will make a statement.

Caroline Nokes: The Immigration Rules governing the Overseas Domestic Worker (ODW) visa are designed to ensure that the worker will not be subject to exploitative working conditions in the UK. ODWs are provided with a bespoke leaflet informing them of their employment rights when they lodge their visa application, before they enter the UK.The Government is currently running a procurement exercise to identify a provider of the information sessions for Overseas Domestic Workers. The results of this tendering exercise will be released in due course.

Armed Forces: Commonwealth

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will publish a response to EDM 2164 on visa costs for Commonwealth service personnel.

Caroline Nokes: All immigration and nationality fees are set within strict financial limits agreed with HM Treasury and Parliament, and are also aligned with clear principles that balance a number of complex factors, including the benefits likely to be accrued.The issue of settlement fees for service personnel and their dependants is a complex matter to which the Home Office is giving careful and ongoing consideration.

Dungavel House Immigration Removal Centre

Lesley Laird: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 17 June 2019 to Question 263224 on Asylum: Detainees, what estimate he has made of the number of people detained at Dungavel immigration removal centre.

Caroline Nokes: Information on the number of people detained in Dungavel immigration removal centre (IRC) on the last day of each quarter is available in table dt_12_q of the detention tables in the latest release of ‘Immigration Statistics, year ending March 2019’.

Dungavel House Immigration Removal Centre

Lesley Laird: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information his Department holds on the former places of residence of detainees at Dungavel detention centre.

Caroline Nokes: The Home Office collects and maintains a range of personal information on immigration detainees on its caseworking databases, including former places of residence, if known. As was explained to the honourable member in response to her question of 10 June, the last known addresses of detainees are not included in the underlying datasets used to produce the Home Office’s published detention figures.

Reagan Wamajji

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will make an assessment of the reasons for the time taken to issue a visa for Reagan Wamajji in advance of his attendance at an event at the Palace of Westminster on 3 July 2019.

Caroline Nokes: All UK Visa applications are considered on their individual merits and in line with the UK Immigration Rules https://www.gov.uk/guidance/immigration-rules/immigration-rules-appendix-v-visitor-rules which set out the requirements to visit the UK. These requirements apply to all visitors to the UK and the onus is on the applicant to demonstrate that they satisfy the immigration rules.Under our published customer service standards we aim to process straightforward non-settlement applications within 15 working days.

Emergency Services Network: Angus

Kirstene Hair: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the locations are of the Emergency Service Network sites that are planned to be deployed in Angus; when those masts will become operational; and which of those sites will enable mobile network operators other than EE to make use of those new sites.

Mr Nick Hurd: The new Emergency Services Network (ESN) is the next-generation critical communications system that allows the police, fire and rescue and ambulance services to operate safely, collaborate and innovate. ESN represents value for money for the taxpayer through delivering steady state savings of over £200m pa compared to Airwave.There will be a total of 13 sites as part of new ESN in Angus. EE have already activated 1 site which is near the village of Farnell, south of Brechin.The remaining 12 sites are being built by the Home Office led Extended Area Service (EAS) Programme and the details you have requested can be seen in the table below. The Programme is currently agreeing terms with EE in regards activation of all EAS sites. *Passive build means that the site is completed but not yet activated. The Home Office is currently unable to give timeframes for activation.Location - Nearest Town/VillageSite Progress StatusStructure TypeSharable to Multiple OperatorsPassive Build Complete Forecast*Rottal, GlencloverIn buildShareable Lattice TowerYesSep-19Glen EskPlanning approved. Waiting legal completionShareable Lattice TowerYesMar-20Tarfside, Glen EskSite Feasibility Carried Out3rd Party TowerNot knownJul-20Glen LethnotSite Feasibility Carried Out3rd Party TowerNot knownJul-20Glen ProsenPlanning approved. Waiting legal completionShareable Lattice TowerYesMar-20Glen Prosen/DykeheadLegally complete. Start on site Q3 2019Shareable Lattice TowerYesNov-19Tarfside, Glen EskPlanning approved. Waiting legal completionShareable Lattice TowerYesMar-20EdzellPassive build complete forecast 31st July 2019Shareable Lattice TowerYesJul-19Blackwater ResevoirPassive build complete forecast 31st July 2019Shareable Lattice TowerYesJul-19CraigiemegLegally complete. Start on site Q3 2019Shareable Lattice TowerYesNov-19FoldaAgreeing terms with Site ProviderShareable Lattice TowerYesSep-20BalintoreSite Feasibility Carried Out3rd Party TowerNot knownJul-20

Asylum: Children

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many children applied for asylum in 2018 whose age was disputed.

Caroline Nokes: The Home Office publishes data on the number of age disputes raised for main applicants who claim to be children are available, broken down by nationality for each quarter, in table as_10_q (Asylum, volume 3).The latest edition which includes data for 2018 is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-statistics-year-ending-march-2019/list-of-tables.

Immigration: Windrush Generation

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether his Department has a target for the time taken to make a decision on a claim submitted to the Windrush compensation scheme.

Caroline Nokes: There is no target for the time taken to make a decision on a claim submitted under the Windrush compensation scheme. We will aim to award compensation as quickly as possible, but the time it will take to process each claim will depend on the complexity of individual cases.

Immigration: Windrush Generation

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he will publish data on the time taken between someone submitting a claim to the Windrush compensation scheme and a decision being made on that claim.

Caroline Nokes: The Home Office will publish information on the number of claims submitted, number of claims paid and the overall amount paid out by the scheme in due course as part of our regular reporting to HASC. We do not intend to publish information on the time taken between a claim being submitted and a decision being made on that claim.

Immigration: Windrush Generation

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether people applying to the Windrush compensation scheme who request a Tier 1 or Tier 2 review will have access to the evidence or data upon which an initial or review decision has been made.

Caroline Nokes: When an offer of compensation is made the Home Office will write to the claimant setting out the reasons for that decision.

Immigration: Windrush Generation

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether people applying to the Windrush compensation scheme will be subject to the immigration exemption to the Data Protection Act 2018.

Caroline Nokes: The immigration exemption in the Data Protection Act 2018 is not a blanket exemption and may only be used on a case by case basis where the prejudice test and the proportionality test have been applied. It is not targeted at any individual cohort or schemes.

Immigration: Windrush Generation

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Windrush compensation scheme, what the average offer has been to an applicant and what criteria his Department uses to calculate loss of income in such awards.

Caroline Nokes: The Home Office does not intend to keep up a running commentary on payments made. We will publish information on the number of claims submitted, number of claims paid and the overall amount paid out by the scheme in due course as part of our regular reporting to HASC.The criteria used to calculate loss of income are set out in the scheme rules available on gov.uk

Asylum: Children

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate his Department has made of the number of child asylum seekers living in adult accommodation.

Caroline Nokes: Child asylum seekers housed in asylum accommodation only if they are part of a family group. Unaccompanied asylum seeking children are housed by the local authorities.

Asylum: Children

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many successful appeals on grounds of age were made by asylum seekers who were found to be juveniles in (a) 2016, (b) 2017 and (c) 2018.

Caroline Nokes: The exact information requested is not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Asylum: Children

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment his Department has made of the need for safeguarding policies to support child asylum seekers erroneously placed in adult removal centres.

Caroline Nokes: The Government ended the routine detention of children in immigration removal centres in 2010. Individuals under the age of 18 are not detained for consideration of their asylum claim.In cases where new information comes to light or concerns are raised, which indicate that a person who has been detained as an adult may be a child, we would seek to release them into the care of local authority children’s services at the earliest safe opportunity for an age assessment.Section 55 of the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act 2009 and published guidance in the form of Detention Services Order (DSO) 19/2012 “Safeguarding Children Policy” and DSO 14/2012 “Care and Management of Age Dispute Cases” set out the legal duties and guidance for staff in the immigration removal estate. This ensures that the welfare of children and their safeguarding is at the forefront of every interaction and decision.

Fire and Rescue Services: Finance

Faisal Rashid: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will allocate more funding to the fire service in the 2019-20 financial year.

Mr Nick Hurd: Fire and rescue services have the resources they need to do their important work and will receive around £2.3 billion in 2019/20.Fire and Rescue Services funding requirements from 2020/21 will be considered as part of the Spending Review.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

Social Rented Housing

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans he has for rent convergence in the social housing sector.

Kit Malthouse: For more than a decade, registered providers of social housing were able to increase the rent on Social Rent properties by an additional £2 per week if the rent was below the 'formula' level. This mechanism was phased out in 2015 and the Government has no plans to reinstate it, as this would be likely to result in additional costs to tenants and taxpayers The Government recently consulted on social housing rents for the period 2020-25. The outcome of that consultation and the Government policy statement is available via the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/rents-for-social-housing-from-2020-to-2021.

Drinking Water

Paul Farrelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department plans to support local authorities to install drinking water fountains across the UK to reduce the number of single-use plastics being consumed.

Jake Berry: The Government is committed to reducing the environmental damage caused by single use plastics by widening availability of drinking water facilities in our communities. The Government’s 25 year environment strategy 'A Green Future: Our 25 Year Plan to Improve the Environment' has committed to supporting water companies, high street retailers, coffee shops and transport hubs to offer new refill points for people to top-up water bottles for free in every major city and town in England.The water industry is a key partner in delivering our commitment to create a nationwide network of refill points. Through the Refill campaign a free app is now available to the public which signposts to over 20,000 free refill points and is estimated to save over 100 million single use bottles from entering our waste stream by the end of 2019. The Government will continue to reduce single-use plastic by working with local authorities and encouraging partnerships with water companies and businesses to widen the availability of drinking fountains and refill sites across our communities.

Affordable Housing

Neil O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how much and what proportion of affordable homes programme funding was spent in settlements with a population of less than 3,000 in each of the last five years.

Kit Malthouse: The Department does not publish annualised data on capital spend by local areas.This Government believes that meeting the housing needs of rural communities is important. Since 2015, over 10 per cent of additional Affordable Homes have been delivered in villages with a population of fewer than 3000 and we recognise the importance of these settlements for both economic and housing growth.

Affordable Housing

Neil O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many homes for (a) affordable rent (b) social rent and (c) other affordable tenures were (i) started and (ii) completed in settlements with a population of less than 3,000 in the most recent year for which data is available.

Kit Malthouse: In 2017-18, there were 4,595 additional new build affordable housing completed in populations of less than 3,000 people.   The Department does not collect a detailed breakdown of affordable housing by tenure specifically for populations of less than 3,000 people.   The Department does not collect centrally information on affordable housing starts in populations of less than 3,000 people.

Social Rented Housing

Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing a new and independent regulatory body to oversee social housing tenancies.

Kit Malthouse: Nothing is more important than ensuring people are safe in their homes. Residents’ voices need to be heard to ensure proper standards are maintained and that where things are going wrong they are picked up and addressed. We want to ensure that there is a coherent and consistent approach to regulation to deliver these objectives, and achieve the best deal for tenants and landlords. Our review of social housing regulation is exploring the most appropriate way of doing so, and we will publish the results of that review in due course.

Loneliness

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to A connected society: A Strategy for tackling loneliness – laying the foundations for change, published 15 October 2018, what progress has been made on his Department’s commitment to work with external stakeholders such as the UK Cohousing Network to build a database of case studies of innovative housing developments that promote social cohesion.

Kit Malthouse: My Department has showcased several case studies of good design, which promote social cohesion. There was an exhibition of some of these case studies during the Government’s Better Design for Better Places national conference; which was held this February in Birmingham.My Department continue to work with a range of external stakeholders to gather case study examples on how to promote social cohesion through housing design and planning.   The Government also continue to support awards for housing design, in which projects that demonstrate promotion of social cohesion are celebrated, such as the new Good Neighbour Award which I presented on 11th July.

Buildings: Construction

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to (a) increase (a) building and (b) build quality throughout the country.

Kit Malthouse: The Government has set out an ambitious package of long-term reform to make the housing market work. We are taking end-to-end action across the housing system with measures to: release more land for homes where people want to live, build the homes we need faster, get more people building homes, and support people who need help now. We have committed more than £44 billion of financial support over five years to 2022/2023 to boost the delivery of housing and unblock barriers to more housebuilding.We are also committed to ensuring that new homes are of good quality. In 2018, we announced a dedicated ombudsman for buyers of new homes and we intend to introduce legislation to require developers of new build homes to belong to a New Homes Ombudsman. The revised National Planning Policy Framework places a strong emphasis on design and makes clear that developments should be visually attractive and add to the overall quality of the area.Our interventions are making a difference. Last year 222,190 homes were delivered, the highest in all but one of the last thirty years. This year numbers are expected to rise again, representing the 7th consecutive year of growth.

Buildings: Insulation

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department is aware of buildings for which cladding has needed to be remediated on more than one occasion since June 2017.

Kit Malthouse: The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Local Government Finance: Newcastle upon Tyne

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what central Government funding Newcastle Local Authority will be allocated for its 2020-21 budget.

Rishi Sunak: Central government funding for Newcastle City Council and other English local authorities in 2020/21 will be subject to the planned Spending Review and confirmed through the 2020-21 Local Government Finance Settlement.

Buildings: Insulation

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, for what reasons his Department is not providing funds for the remediation of non-Aluminium composite cladding where it is found to be unsafe.

Kit Malthouse: The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Buildings: Insulation

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference the article in the Oxford Mail entitled, Hockmore Tower among five Oxford blocks facing post Grenfell scrutiny, published 11 July 2019, what information his Department has provided to local authorities in July 2019 on the need to remediate high-pressure laminate cladding.

Kit Malthouse: The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Buildings: Fire Prevention

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the National Fire Chiefs Council or his Department's Independent Expert Panel have been invited to witness the large-scale fire safety tests commissioned by his Department in July 2019.

Kit Malthouse: The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Anti-muslim Hatred Working Group

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, which (a) persons and (b) organisations the Anti-Muslim Hatred Working Group has met with in the last 12 months.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: The Anti-Muslim Hatred Working Group was established to consider and take forward proposals to tackle anti-Muslim hatred. Members are expected to interact regularly with a broad range stakeholders at an individual and organisational level. This includes Muslim communities, key partners, government departments, local service providers, police and interfaith groups.

Anti-muslim Hatred Working Group

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when the terms of reference of the Anti-Muslim Hatred Working Group (a) were last and (b) are next due to be reviewed.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: The terms of reference of the Anti-Muslim Hatred Working Group were last reviewed during the process to refresh the membership this year. The terms of reference are reviewed regularly.

Stronger Towns Fund

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 5 June 2019 to Question 257559, when he plans to publish further details on the operation and allocation of the Stronger Towns Fund.

Jake Berry: The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government announced the new Stronger Towns Fund to the House of Commons on 4 March 2019 and will return to the House to provide further detail on the Fund in due course.

Buildings: Fire Prevention

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 11 July 2019 to Question 274551 on Buildings: Fire Prevention, what steps leaseholders are able to take in the event of being presented with high charges for non-cladding fire safety remedial work.

Kit Malthouse: The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Department for Exiting the European Union

Professions: Qualifications

Neil O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, if he will list the professional qualifications which will no longer be automatically recognised in the EU in the event of the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

Mr Robin Walker: Currently, UK professionals benefit from automatic recognition of their professional qualifications by EU member states for seven professions: nurses, midwives, doctors, dentists, pharmacists, architects and veterinary surgeons. All other qualifications are only recognised if they are deemed to be of an equivalent standard to the EU Member State’s own standards. If the UK leaves the EU without a deal, UK nationals will no longer have access to the EU’s reciprocal system of automatic professional qualification recognition.UK nationals seeking recognition to practice regulated professions in the EU after a no deal exit would have to check the national policies and rules of the relevant Member State in which they intend to practice. The Government has published advice for UK professionals seeking to have their qualifications recognised in EU member states in the event of ‘no deal’ on Gov.uk.

Schengen Agreement

Neil O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what estimate he has made of the number of UK nationals who (a) work in the Schengen area and (b) live in the Schengen area and have less than five years' residency.

Mr Robin Walker: We estimate that there are around 1 million UK nationals living in the EU. We do not at present hold data on the number of UK nationals who work in the Schengen area, nor the number of those who live in the Schengen area with less than five years’ residency.The deal we’ve reached will provide EU citizens in the UK and UK nationals in the EU with certainty about their rights going forward. Indeed, the Government has been clear that in any scenario, including no deal, EU citizens and their family members living here by exit day will be able to stay. EU citizens resident in the UK by exit day are able to apply to the EU Settlement Scheme to secure their status. The scheme fully opened on 30 March and over 800,000 applicants have applied. Applications to the scheme are free.In a no deal, following extensive engagement by the Government, we are pleased that all Member States have now made commitments to protect the rights of UK nationals in the EU and have guaranteed that UK nationals legally resident by exit day will be able to stay. We continue to encourage Member States to fully reciprocate our offer and communicate plans as soon as possible.

Treasury

Electronic Publishing: VAT

Chris Evans: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment the Government has made of the potential effect on authors of removing VAT from the sale of e-books.

Jesse Norman: The Government keeps all taxes under review, including Value Added Tax (VAT). Amendments to the VAT regime as it applies to physical publications and e-publications must be carefully assessed against policy, economic and fiscal considerations. Any representations on this issue, including those from authors and their representatives, will be considered as part of the fiscal events process.

Plastics: Taxation

Angela Crawley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when the Government plans to introduce the plastic packaging tax announced in the 2018 Budget.

Robert Jenrick: At Budget 2018, the Chancellor announced his intention to tackle the scourge of single-use plastic waste through the introduction of a new tax on plastic packaging which does not contain a sufficient amount of recycled content. Earlier this year, the government launched a consultation seeking views on the initial proposed design for the tax. This closed in May and the government intends to publish a summary of responses in due course. As with any new tax, extensive work must be carried out before implementation, to ensure the tax operates effectively. The new tax will be introduced in April 2022.

Fossil Fuels: Foreign Investment

Angela Crawley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what fiscal steps he has taken to discourage investment in fossil fuels overseas.

Robert Jenrick: The Government engages in a range of activities designed to facilitate lower global greenhouse gas emissions, including through international diplomacy, and the provision of Official Development Assistance. As set out in the Green Finance Strategy, the Government will align the UK’s Official Development Assistance spending with the Paris Agreement. In practical terms, this will include ensuring any investment support for fossil fuels affecting emissions is in line with the Paris Agreement temperature goals and transition plans.

UK Trade with EU: Customs

Neil O'Brien: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the (a) number of customs declarations which will be made by the 240,000 UK businesses that trade only with the EU and will need to interact with customs processes for the first time in the event that they continue to trade with the EU and (b) average number of those declarations per business.

Jesse Norman: The customs declaration administrative burden is not available for the 240,000 businesses only. The burden is calculated using a segmentation analysis, to look at the new declarations and costs for five different groups of businesses, differentiated by their trade volumes and use of intermediaries. This segmentation does not explicitly differentiate EU-only traders, and an estimate is not readily available. More detail on increased customs declarations in a no deal scenario can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hmrc-impact-assessment-for-the-movement-of-goods-if-the-uk-leaves-the-eu-without-a-deal.

UK Trade With EU

Neil O'Brien: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will publish the (a) HMRC analysis underpinning its estimate that in the event of the UK leaving the EU without a deal the administrative burden on businesses from customs declarations on 2016 UK-EU trade in goods will be £13 billion and (b) the estimated number of additional customs declarations underpinning that figure.

Jesse Norman: The information requested is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hmrc-impact-assessment-for-the-movement-of-goods-if-the-uk-leaves-the-eu-without-a-deal, in Section C.

Incinerators: Taxation

Dr David Drew: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessments his Department has made of the effect of differing levels of incineration tax on the amount of waste going to (a) incineration and (b) recycling.

Robert Jenrick: A number of respondents to last year’s call for evidence on single use plastic waste suggested that an incineration tax could discourage incineration and promote other forms of waste management such as recycling.At Budget 2018, the Chancellor announced that he would not at this point be taking forward a tax on the incineration of waste. However, should wider policies not deliver the government’s waste ambitions, government will consider the introduction of such a tax, in conjunction with landfill tax, taking account of the possible impacts on local authorities.

Tobacco: Excise Duties

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what amount of heated tobacco product covered by the Tobacco for Heating excise category introduced on 1 July 2019 may be brought into the UK by passengers (a) from the EU and (b) from outside the EU as at (i) 11 July 2019 and (ii) after the UK leaves the EU.

Jesse Norman: Passengers travelling from the EU may bring an unlimited amount of tobacco for heating into the UK without paying duty, provided it is for their own personal use.Most passengers travelling from outside the EU may bring tobacco for heating products into the UK up to the value of £390. Passengers travelling by private plane or boat are only entitled to an allowance of £270.The Government’s future approach is subject to the outcome of negotiations with the EU. However, the Government’s aim is to keep processes as close as possible to their current operation.

Financial Services: Older People and Vulnerable Adults

Peter Kyle: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that banks provide sufficient support to elderly and vulnerable customers to access their services.

Peter Kyle: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that banking services are accessible to (a) elderly customers, (b) vulnerable customers and (c) customers without internet access.

John Glen: The Government believes that everyone, wherever they live and especially the most vulnerable, should have access to essential banking services. Since 2017, the Post Office has had an agreement with the main high street banks, which enables 99% of personal banking customers and 95% of SME banking customers to carry out their everyday banking at any one of their 11,500 branches across the UK. The Government has invested over £2bn in the Post Office since 2010 to protect and maintain the network.The Government also believes that having a bank account is key to enabling people to manage their money on a day-to-day basis effectively, securely and confidently. The nine largest personal current account providers in the UK must offer basic bank accounts to customers who do not have a bank account or who are not eligible for a bank's standard current account.

Tax Avoidance

Peter Dowd: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people have been challenged by HMRC for promoting or facilitating tax avoidance schemes since 2017.

Jesse Norman: HMRC are investigating over 100 promoters and others involved in avoidance. Since the formation of HMRC’s Fraud Investigation Service on 1 April 2016, more than 20 individuals have been convicted for offences relating to arrangements which have been promoted and marketed as tax avoidance schemes. The majority of those convictions relate to promoters. Recently, six individuals were arrested on suspicion of promoting fraudulent arrangements to get around the loan charge.

Income Tax

Peter Dowd: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people received an end of year tax summary from HMRC in 2018.

Jesse Norman: Approximately 19.5 million customers received a paper Annual Tax Summary and approximately 10 million self-assessment customers received a digital version of the Annual Tax Summary in 2018/19 (for the year 2017/18).

Infrastructure: Capital Investment

Peter Dowd: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many capital infrastructure projects have been completed as part of the Government’s National Infrastructure and Construction Pipeline.

Elizabeth Truss: Since 2010, over 4,900 public and private infrastructure projects have been successfully delivered.In particular, since 2010, the government has earmarked 158 major projects as being of national significance and a priority, including 90 listed in the National Infrastructure Delivery Plan 2016-2021. IPA tracks and publishes the delivery progress of all 158 projects, publishing a National Infrastructure and Construction Pipeline document each year. As reported in the current edition of the Pipeline, published in November 2018, the vast majority are being delivered, with 98% completed or on track to deliver.In 2018 alone, over 400 infrastructure projects were completed and moved into operation across a number of sectors. In the North West, for example, these included major investments such as the Walney Extension wind farm capable of powering over 600,000 homes; 2km of new flood defences to protect thousands of homes in Rossall on the coast of Lancashire; and the UK’s first Proton Beam Therapy centre at Christie Hospital in Manchester.But it is not just major projects such as these which are having a real impact on people’s lives. We are also delivering hundreds of smaller projects across the UK.

Revenue and Customs: Staff

Peter Dowd: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many tax experts HMRC's Tax Capacity Building Unit and Tax Expert Unit has trained since 2017.

Jesse Norman: The Capacity Building Unit, which subsumed the Tax Expert Unit on 1 April 2017, does not maintain records of the number of people trained in Low and Middle Income Countries. This is principally because:HMRC’s Capacity Building Unit delivers technical assistance through a broad range of methods beyond the delivery of training, including through sharing of advice and experience, workshops and mentoring.HMRC often train other trainers, in order to spread awareness of best practice most efficiently. As a result the effect of HMRC training goes well beyond the number of people specifically involved.

Revenue and Customs: Payments

Sir David Amess: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to ensure the adequacy of checks undertaken to guarantee the accuracy of the payment of monies greater than £10,000 by HMRC to private citizens.

Jesse Norman: HMRC take care to ensure the accuracy of their payments to all their customers. Managers also make sure standards are set before an activity takes place and then conduct checks afterwards to ensure payments processes are properly designed and operating as intended. Finally, independent assurance over HMRC’s processes including payments is obtained from Internal Audit, the Audit & Risk Committee and the National Audit Office as part of the third line of defence.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Data Protection

Neil O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate he has made of the number of UK firms that import data from the EU that would be subject to the EU's rules on data export to third countries in the absence of an adequacy decision.

Margot James: We are currently undertaking analysis regarding the number of businesses this will affect. The UK and the EU agree that the continued free flow of personal data is an important underpinning feature of the future relationship for both economic and security purposes. In 2017, around 40% of the EU’s service exports to the UK were data-enabled worth approximately £30bn, and around 70% of the UK’s service exports to the EU were data-enabled, worth approximately £80bn. This demonstrates that it is in everyone’s interests that the exchange of personal data between EU Member States and the UK continues in the event of a no deal scenario. The EU has an established mechanism to allow the free flow of personal data to countries outside the EU, namely adequacy decisions and the UK stands ready to begin the adequacy assessment process right away. In the event of no deal, given the degree of alignment between the UK and EU’s data protection regimes, the UK will transitionally recognise all EEA states, EU adequate third countries, EU and EEA institutions, and Gibraltar, as though they have been subject to an affirmative adequacy decision by the UK. This will allow personal data to continue to flow freely from the UK to the EU. The UK would keep all of these decisions under review. In a no deal scenario, the UK does not expect the European Commission to have made adequacy decisions regarding the UK at the point of exit. This means UK and EU organisations should take steps to mitigate any impact in this scenario by implementing alternative transfer mechanisms to send personal data from the EU to the UK. Details of what the alternative transfer mechanisms available are and how to make use of them are set out in the ICO guidance and gov.uk.

Museums and Galleries: East Midlands

Ben Bradley: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to encourage more people to visit (a) museums and (b) art galleries in the East Midlands.

Rebecca Pow: We want to ensure that East Midlands museums and galleries continue to thrive and engage with diverse audiences. To that end, museums and galleries in the region receive public funding from a variety of sources, including Arts Council England, National Heritage Lottery Fund, local authorities and others, as well as benefiting from a range of tax reliefs and grants. For instance, three regional museums and galleries in Derby and Nottingham were awarded funding from the £4 million DCMS/Wolfson Museums and Galleries Improvement Fund this year, and we look forward to seeing their projects take shape. East Midlands museums and galleries have continued to find innovative ways to use their buildings and objects to best effect and improve their audiences’ engagement and experience.

Loneliness

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to A connected society: A Strategy for tackling loneliness – laying the foundations for change, published 15 October 2018, what progress has been made on the commitment to collaborate with (a) the LGA, (b) digital experts, (c) local authorities, (d) Ministry for Housing and (e) the voluntary sector to pilot in four areas how better use of data can help make it easier for people to find local activities, services and support.

Mims Davies: As announced in last year’s loneliness strategy, ‘A connected society - A strategy for tackling loneliness’, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, in collaboration with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, has partnered with the Local Government Association to run a series of pilots to explore how local authorities and their partners can capture and share information on local activities and support that might help to tackle loneliness.Partners across local government, digital experts and representatives from the voluntary sector have helped to shape the scope of the pilots. Building on existing work carried out with local authorities to provide quality assured categorised place-wide service data, these pilots will seek to test and refine data standards and taxonomies, investigate ways of collecting information to make them more efficient, accurate and sustainable, and explore how stakeholders from a range of sectors can be motivated to capture this data and keep it up to date. Data and learning will be published in order to encourage wider take-up by other local authorities by the end of March 2020.Local authority areas in England have now been selected through an expression of interest process, details of which will be announced later this year.

Telecommunications: Infrastructure

Jo Platt: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 5 June 2019 to Question 257528 on Telecommunications: Infrastructure, whether the supply chain review is planned to be released before summer recess 2019; and what assessment he has made of the effect of a delay in publication on cyber-security.

Margot James: The security and resilience of the UK’s telecoms networks is of paramount importance. We are committed to ensuring we have an effective policy and regulatory framework in place for the secure and resilient deployment of new fixed and 5G networks. The decisions of the Supply Chain Review will be announced to Parliament in due course.

Sports: Public Participation

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment his Department has made of the role of free to air sport on public participation in sport.

Mims Davies: Government’s Sporting Future strategy set out the importance of people accessing and experiencing major sporting events and the important outcomes that this can contribute to. It was also clear that Government wants to see sport’s inspirational impact have as broad a reach as possible.UK Sport studies show the motivational power of sport, with two thirds of the British public saying they have been inspired by the success of our Olympic and Paralympic teams and 40% of these people being motivated to do more sport or active recreation than normal.Government welcomes the BBC's announcement that it will stream over 1000 hours of extra sport a year. Along with the BBC Connected Sport app, this will allow greater access for fans across the country to view sport. Government also welcomes the decision by Sky to show the final of the 2019 Cricket World Cup on free-to-air television (Channel 4 and More 4), giving millions of viewers the opportunity to unite behind the England team.Sport England is investing over £1.2bn in grassroots sport over 2016-21 to ensure that there are opportunities for people from all backgrounds and levels of ability to get active.

Government Departments: Digital Technology

Jo Platt: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to page 10 of the Government Transformation Strategy, how many of the 10 commitments the Government intended to complete before 2020 are on track to be completed.

Margot James: We will update the House at the appropriate time.

House of Commons Commission

Plastics: Recycling

Dr David Drew: To ask the right hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington, representing the House of Commons Commission, what plans the Commission has to increase the level of (a) recycling and (b) reuse to reduce the use of single-use plastic.

Tom Brake: On increasing recycling and re-use, Parliament’s Environment Team works in close partnership with its waste contractor to respond to new and emerging opportunities to recycle and recover waste. The waste contract includes a requirement for driving continuous improvements in Parliament’s recycling performance.Parliament achieved a recycling rate of 59% in 2018–19, with a long-term target to recycle 75% of waste (by weight) by 2020–21.On reducing single-use avoidable plastics, in May 2018 Parliament announced a comprehensive range of initiatives to drastically reduce its consumption of single-use avoidable plastics:Eliminate plastic bottled waterEliminate condiment sachets (through substitution)Eliminate plastic-lined hot drinks cups, alongside introduction of a ‘latte levy’Sell and incentivise the use of re-usable ‘keep cups’Substitute disposable catering take-away items with compostable alternatives, alongside the introduction of a compostable waste streamSubstitute plastic tumblers with compostable alternativesSubstitute plastic carrier bags with paper onesImplement a ‘green stationery’ cataloguePilot a re-usable delivery container scheme at the Offsite Consolidation CentreProduce procedures for incorporating the environmental impact of packaging waste into the weighting of relevant procurement exercisesExcept for the delivery container pilot scheme, for which a feasibility study has been completed, all single-use plastic initiatives have been fully implemented.

Attorney General

Coroners: Government Departments

Jo Stevens: To ask the Attorney General, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of (a) legal advice and (b) representation at inquests for Government Departments in each year since 2010.

Lucy Frazer: Holding answer received on 16 July 2019



The table below sets out the total amounts billed by the Government Legal Department (GLD) Litigation Group in relation to inquests in which they have been instructed by Government Departments and other public bodies.GLD represents most, but not all, Government Departments in litigation. In addition, during parts of the period covered by the table, a small number of Departments (that GLD now acts for in litigation) handled their own litigation (including inquests).The amounts are set out by financial year from 2010-11 and are exclusive of VAT. It is not possible to provide a separate breakdown of the totals by reference to legal advice and representation. 2010-112011-122012-132013-142014-152015-162016-172017-182018-19£2,600,951£2,476,100£2,621,377£3,575,348£3,405,809£3,883,929£4,283,521£4,851,059£5,783,648